Wolf Novis: The Bandit Years
by Shadow55419
Summary: A look into Wolf Novis of The Death Tiger's time as a bandit before he joined the Guardian Force. (Takes place between two paragraphs in chapter two of The Death Tiger) re-written after some timeline problems were pointed out to me. Please Read, review and most of all, enjoy :D
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids or any of the characters who might appear from the series, but everything else, yeah that's mine.

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Chapter 1

As a black on red König Wolf ran across the desert at a reasonable pace, a fourteen year old young man with sapphire blue eyes, black hair cut short and a scar running over his right eye was sitting back in the seat letting the Zoid run on its own. As he stretched out in the seat his shoulders popped as did his neck and back before he settled back into his seat only slightly more comfortable. He wore a lightweight grey shirt and loose fit black pants that stayed out of the way of his piloting very well.

A red and black Organoid ran alongside the Zoid, easily keeping pace with the larger machine. What stood out most about the velociraptor like machine were the four black spikes over its smoke grey eyes and jaw near the back of its head that appeared almost slicked back.

*Wolf, are you sure you want to leave home like this?* the Organoid growled with concern.

"Yeah, I think it's time I try making it on my own for a while," the black haired young man replied coldly as he closed his eyes against the midday sun, "And if you don't stop asking Blaze, I'm gonna put a dent or two in that armor of yours."

They had been traveling for several days, the König was powering through what appeared to be an open desert. A single alarm went off in the cockpit before a shot rang out and the sand a few meters ahead of the wolf exploded into a dust cloud.

"Who goes through our territory?" A voice rang through his speakers before Wolf's reflexes even tried to kick in, no video screen on the cockpit glass told Wolf it was someone not wanting to be identified.

"My name is Wolf Novis, I'm only passing through, looking for anyone who can teach me to be a better pilot," the young pilot responded calmly as he brought the König to a stop.

"If you're willing to join our ranks I'm sure we can come up with something," the voice rang out again.

"Where are you? What do you pilot?" Wolf asked getting a little nervous.

"Look behind you and find out," the voice replied with the slightest hint of amusement lacing its calm tone.

Wolf obeyed and slowly turned the König to face the person he was speaking to, keeping the guns in their closed positions to avoid getting shot. He saw a black and white Zaber Fang with a lot of modifications; it had a beam Gatling gun from a Dark Horn on its left side and a heavy duty looking cannon that Wolf couldn't identify on the other. It stood in a relaxed pose seeming to know Wolf and his König wouldn't be a threat to them even if they did try to shoot before running away.

"What's your name sir?" Wolf asked trying not to sound as scared as he felt just as a view screen popped up on the glass beside him.

"My name is Razor, I like your Zoid, I'm curious how you learned to control it at all though, but that can wait until we've gotten back to base, follow me," a tall man with short blonde hair and emerald green eyes said as he turned his Zaber Fang towards an entrance Wolf had either failed to notice or was hidden from sight before.

Once they were inside the base Razor formally introduced himself and his brother Vailen and explained that they ran a small ten pilot crew along with three or four mechanics that stayed at the base all the time. Wolf noticed that there weren't any other people or Zoids in the hanger but theirs but chose not to say anything about that.

"Well young Mr. Novis, this is our base, go anywhere you like, nothing but the Zoid hanger on the south side is off limits and that's where we keep our very special Zoids," Razor said wrapping an arm around the young man's shoulders.

"What does special Zoids mean exactly?" Wolf asked as they walked around.

"Oh, just that they don't get used every time we go out, they only go out on large scale targets, and we tend to stray away from that, draws too much attention," the older blonde man said laughing a little.

"You guys are bandits aren't you?" the black haired boy asked as Razor continued to lead him. Blaze hoped that the answer would sway Wolf's decision to leave home so soon.

"Yes we are, but we are not in it for a profit like other bandits, we do it for our village," Razor replied as he let him arm fall off of Wolf's shoulder.

"So where do I stay?" Wolf asked with a greedy smile.

"The dining room is over there, and the quarters are over here," the blonde haired man said as he pointed a few places out while walking down the halls, Blaze and Wolf close behind him.

*Wolf, I don't think this is a good idea,* the red and black Organoid growled as they entered a cabin that Wolf was assigned.

"Hey, I'm only here till I can fight on a military level then I'll dump this crew and go military and we can come back and bust these goons," Wolf said quietly as he lay down on the bed.

"Razor, are you sure about this kid, I mean he's only 14, I still need Tyrant's help some times," Vailen, a tall man with long blonde hair and pale green eyes, asked as they walked back down the hall, "What makes you think he can do more than walk that Zoid of his?"

"That kid can control a König Wolf, one of the few Zoids around that chooses its pilot, he shouldn't be able to control it at all without his Organoid but he can. It will be interesting to see what he can do when he's well trained big brother," Razor replied icily.

"We can teach him, but what if he over throws one of us," Vailen asked worriedly.

Razor didn't reply before walking away from his older brother. _'I wonder if this kid really could be that good, I don't know anyone who can pilot a König so easily,'_ Razor thought as he continued down the halls of the base.

Wolf spent his first day wandering the base learning where the more important areas were, including the firing range, where his first time shooting a gun knocked him on his ass. It was his second day on the base before any other Zoid came into the main hanger, it was a Pteras with a custom blue and red paint job, and yet another day before the rest of the crew arrived.

The black haired young man learned that the ten other pilots in the crew mostly went by their given names until in the cockpit, he was slightly dismayed at the fact his call sign would remain 'Rookie' until his first full combat raid.

*We're being followed,* Blaze growled quietly as they walked back towards their room after looking over the König.

"I know, I saw her when we turned that last corner," Wolf said as he turned another corner and leaned against the wall.

They heard hurried footsteps just before a brown haired girl about fifteen years old wearing a beat up pair of coveralls tied at the waist with a green shirt turned the corner and nearly plowed into Blaze.

"Hi, mind not following me around anymore?" the blue eyed young man said with a tone as cold as ice.

"No need to be mean, I was just trying to find out who you were," the girl responded calmly as she straightened the knot in her coveralls, it was only then Wolf noticed her hazel eyes.

"Then ask next time," Wolf said as he started to walk away.

"Who are you?" the girl asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Names Wolf, his name is Blaze," the black haired young man responded pointing to his Organoid.

"My name is Melody Rosten and I think you're kinda cute, I'll make sure you stay in one piece after the training sessions if you'll let me," Melody said as she followed the pair, "I'm the crew medic."

"That's fine with me, might wanna ask Blaze and my König about keeping them in one piece too," Wolf replied coldly.

"I'd rather you be nice first fella," the young woman said with a smirk, "I'm only part time on the mechanic crew."

"I'll be nice when you tell me why you're still following us."

"You need to know your Zoid, I need to know its pilot so I can fix him if it comes to that. That a good enough reason for you?"

"You know, I'm either starting to get used to being annoyed, or I'm starting to like you," Wolf replied with a chuckle as he turned back towards his follower, his eyes shining bright red.

"Woah, your eyes changed color!" Melody said with an amazed tone as she stepped a little closer and looked at his eyes rather than looking into them, "That is so cool! How did you do that?"

"I get angry, they change, simple as that."

The brown haired young woman took another half step towards Wolf, the young man didn't blink as she did so to Blaze's amazement. They stood in silence for a few moments before Melody finally took a step back.

"It's not contact lenses or some kind of treatment to change their color," she muttered to herself causing Wolf's smirk to grow, "Maybe a temporary treatment applied on a whim?" she asked looking to him for answers.

"Nope, I told you what it is, obviously you don't believe me," the black haired young man said just before closing his eyes and scratching the scar over his right eye, when he opened them again they were his usual deep sapphire blue, "See, no treatment would be that short term."

"Then what the hell is it?" Melody half shouted causing Blaze to start laughing.

"First person I meet that isn't scared out of their wits by that and she can't figure out what it is," Wolf muttered to himself with a slight chuckle, "Its genetic, me, my father, and my little brother all have this thing, my kids and his kids will have it too," he added in reply to the young woman's curiosity.

They moved their conversation to the kitchen so Melody could get something to eat. They talked a little more about Wolf's eyes and swapped a few personal stories before the young man got curious about the group he'd joined up with.

"So tell me about this little crew of ours," the black haired young man said leaning back into his chair.

"Well there's Razor and Vailen, the two guys who brought you into the hanger if you need reminding, they run the Trazen Crew, the only bandits with a hometown," Melody replied with a giggle, "See, everything we take goes to this little village that literally straddles the border between the Helic Republic and the Guylos Empire, no one will claim it so they can't get any help."

*Honorable thieves, sounds a little hard to believe,* Blaze growled gaining a slightly angry look from the young woman.

"Blaze, just because they have to steal to help others survive doesn't taint the reason their doing it," Wolf replied with an admonishing tone before turning his attention back to Melody, "Tell me about the pilots."

"Well you'll make number nine outside the bosses. First in line is Vanessa, she and Razor have this thing going though neither of them thinks anyone knows, but she's tough as nails and pilots a Heldigunner. Second and third are Tango and Lemur, those are nicknames obviously I doubt even Razor knows their real names, nice guys, little overly playful sometimes though, they usually fly Redlers but they do pretty well in Command Wolves and Rev Raptors too. After them there are the Tillion sisters, Luna, Tammy and Sarah Beth, they all pilot Command Wolves painted up like foxes, they even had armor added to their cockpit glass to look more intimidating, they'll probably be the ones you train with most."

"What are their call signs?" Wolf asked as he processed the information.

"They don't have any, Razor just calls them the fox sisters," the brown haired young woman replied with a smile, "Tammy is about our age so watch out or Luna will be trying to set you two up."

"Well thanks for that heads up," the black haired young man replied with a genuine laugh, "So who is left?"

"Just Hawk and me, he pilots an Dark Horn we basically scrapped together, twin Zaber style Gatling guns over the usual single hybrid vulcan, I never have cared enough for the man to find out his real name though."

"And what's your Zoid and call sign?"

"I fly a Pteras, probably noticed it in the hanger, blue and red paint scheme and all, they call me Bomber when I do fly, which isn't very often."

"Why not?"

"Don't much like piloting, I know how, I'd just rather be fixing Zoids or people than causing damage."

"Yeah, 'cause you've got a lousy shot," a strong but feminine voice came from behind Wolf with a chuckle, "Who's the new face?"

"Wolf Novis, meet Vanessa Terath a.k.a. Ripper," Melody replied with an only half angry glare towards the older woman.

Wolf turned in his chair and saw a woman a bit taller than himself with waist length black hair tied in a complicated braid standing behind him. She looked the perfect bandit in loose fitting sand colored pants, one pistol on each hip and a loose red shirt. The woman quirked a brow and folded her arms across her chest as she started down at the younger man, Wolf just stared right back.

"So how did Razor recruit you?" the black haired young man finally asked breaking the silence.

"The three of us grew up together," Vanessa replied coolly, "Razor didn't have to recruit me, I just followed."

"Following your lover?" Wolf asked making Vanessa shift and take a step back.

"Who said we were lovers?" the black haired woman said with just a hint of confused panic in the cold façade of her tone.

"Your reaction just did, plus your tone picked up a little warmth when you said his name."

"Everyone will know for sure now!" Melody called with a laugh as Vanessa turned and left the room, "You know we've been trying to get them to get that relationship out in the open for a year now, you did it in ten seconds," she added as soon as Vanessa was out of earshot.

"I'm talented that way," Wolf replied with a smile, "More so when I have a heads up," he added with a laugh.

"Wolf, get to the hanger when you're finished with whatever it is you're doing," Razor's voice said calmly through the small radio on Wolf's hip causing the younger man to grab it off his belt.

"On my way boss," the blue eyed young man replied before he stood up and replaced the radio, "I think I'm in trouble after that stunt with Ripper," he added to Melody with a chuckle.

Melody laughed as Wolf left the kitchen headed for the hanger bay. It took him a minute and one wrong turn that landed him in the Zoid weapons storage locker to remember how to get where he and Blaze were supposed to go.

"You could have told me I turned the wrong way," Wolf muttered towards his Organoid when they finally got to the hanger.

*Learn your own way around and you won't need me,* Blaze growled with a hissed laugh earning him a quick but rough back handed fist to the snout, to which he let out another hissed laugh as they walked towards Razor.

"Mount up Rookie," The blonde haired fellow said gesturing towards the König that was wondering around the hanger deck by itself, "And can you get that thing to stop pacing? It's worrying some of the mechanics."

"I'll talk to her, when we get back," Wolf replied with a little extra emphasis on 'her' just before he whistled.

The König Wolf's head jerked towards the whistle before it bounded over almost happily which caused the three mechanics in the space and Razor to go wide eyed as it slid to a stop just short of Wolf. Razor got a bigger shock with the massive mechanical wolf knelt down and gently nudged the black haired young man in the chest before opening its cockpit to the younger man. The blonde haired man snapped out of it when he heard the cockpit of the wolf seal and jumped into his black and white Zaber Fang and led his new crewman out into the open sands of the desert.

"Wolf today is your first training session, this crew will teach you everything you need to know about how to pilot a Zoid," Razor said through a video link with the König Wolf, "First, we need to know what you can do. No live ammunition has been loaded into the Zoids, just paint shots so don't worry about getting hurt or anything."

Wolf took this as a signal to attack his green eyed boss, the König leaped into a full run without its boosters active, and without Blaze wrapped around the core.

"Rule number one, always use your full potential while you're learning, then learn to hide the skills," Razor said as he side stepped the charge and shoulder slammed the König causing it to stumble, fall to the ground and slide a few feet in the soft sand.

"I want to learn without over using Blaze," Wolf said as he pulled his Zoid to its feet.

"That's all well and good then but maybe you should learn with him first," the blonde said as he waited, "Tyrant does amazing things with strategy for Vailen, also ups reaction time between control movements and Zoid actions, Blaze could do the same for you."

"I like being able to form my own, and my König can think for herself so Blaze stays parked for now."

Wolf tried to take his opponent by surprise; he pulled the controls and ran in a different direction. The Zaber followed closely behind him. _'Perfect,'_ Wolf thought as he jerked the controls, spinning the König on the spot and taking a swipe at the lower jaw of the Zaber.

Razor just barely had enough time to react, but it was enough to fire on the Zoid in front of him. The paint splattered all over the cockpit forcing Wolf to stop the fight because he couldn't see anymore.

"Rule number two, never underestimate your opponent. Now clean your cockpit and return to the hanger," the emerald eyed man said as the turned around and went back into the base.

*That was a good move, he was just faster that's all,* Blaze said trying to console a rather upset Wolf.

The pair got back in only a few minutes after Razor, but it seemed to be enough to gather all of the pilots and the mechanics in the hanger deck. Wolf was shocked to see faces he'd never seen before considering the size of the crew as he dropped from his cockpit.

"What's this?" the black haired young man asked as he stepped a little closer to Blaze as the Organoid took a defensive stance.

"This is the Trazen Crew," Melody supplied with a giggle as she stepped towards three women standing together, "This is Tammy Tillion," she added gesturing to a shorter young woman who had pale blue hair down to her shoulders wearing the same loose red pants and gray shirt as the other two, "This is Luna," she said pointing at the taller woman in the middle, she had the same blue hair as the first but it hung curled at shoulder blade length.

"The last one is Sarah Beth," Razor jumped in pointing at the tallest of the three blue haired women, who wore her hair in a messy bun at the back of her head hiding its length, "They'll teach you everything to do outside the Zoids, hand to hand combat, how to disappear in a crowd, that sort of thing."

"Wait, I'm gonna have to fight girls?" Wolf asked, instantly regretting it as the three women turned cold death glares his way, "I'm not trying to insult anyone here, but I was taught that's not good," he added nervously, holding his hands up passively.

"We'll worry about what's good and not here," Sarah Beth replied keeping her glare cold, "So come on Rookie, let's see what you've got."

Wolf stood there dumfounded for a few moments before looking to his Organoid, Blaze shrugged and shook his head. Finally the black haired young man let out a resigned sigh and took up a fighting stance as Blaze backed off. Sarah Beth launched into her run with her left leg bringing up her right fist for a blow, Wolf stepped to his left and hooked his own arm around hers and used her momentum to get her in a headlock before anyone else could react.

"I'm a lover not a fighter," Wolf said with a chuckle as he playfully kissed the older woman on the cheek and let her go with a wink.

"And I thought Tango and Lemur were playful," Razor laughed from the side lines.

"You're gonna pay for that," Sarah Beth growled a she wiped her cheek and set her stance again.

"What did I do?" Wolf asked with a smirk just before the older woman lunged again.

This time Wolf didn't bother with playing, he shunted the punch to his right and gave a half step worth of ground before grabbing Sarah Beth's still outstretched arm and pulling the older woman off balance long enough to sweep her legs out from under her. The blue haired woman hit the ground face first and everyone on the sidelines gasped in shock.

"A good defense makes a decent offence where I'm from," Wolf said with a matter of fact tone as he held out a hand for the woman, "Didn't hurt that pretty face did I?"

Sarah Beth shook her head and took the offered hand and kicked Wolf hard in the gut while his guard was down before she jumped to her feet. Wolf remained standing as he held his stomach with mild amusement playing on his lips and his eyes.

"What are you smiling at?" Sarah Beth shouted as his smile grew wider and the younger man closed his sapphire blue eyes.

"Nothing at all, let's go for real now," Wolf replied with a deepened tone as he opened his bright red eyes.

Sarah Beth launched several failed attacks in the space of the blink of an eye and Wolf had her giving ground while on the defensive. After a moment the blue haired woman started for a round house kick but Wolf caught her leg before she even got half way through the spin and head butted her, the sickening crack echoed through the hanger for a moment before she fell to the floor with a thud.

"Damn," someone on the sideline muttered as Wolf stood over his opponent.

"Whose up next?" the black haired young man asked through his heavy breathing when Sarah Beth gave a surrendering gesture as she caught her own breath on the floor.

Everyone took a step back except Luna who stepped in to help her sister up off the floor, holding her up a little as her balance returned to normal.

"You're good kid, where did you learn to fight like that?" Sarah Beth asked with a genuinely curious tone.

"I wasn't always the tough guy in my village, took quite a few beatings before Blaze, sparing with him toughened not only the skill set but the body," Wolf replied as his eyes shifted back to blue.

"Well, we'll teach you how to be invisible and tough so don't think you can skip out on training," Luna replied sounding a little angry at the younger man.

"That's why I'm here, so I wouldn't skip anyway," the black haired young man replied with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The week that followed Wolf's first training session was pretty slow, the fox sisters had gone to hit a supply convoy carrying med supplies with Vanessa so he was doing small arms training with the Redler pilots Tango and Lemur. The two cousins were, in Wolf's opinion, total lunatics of the greatest kind, they enjoyed a good prank and knew every good joke in the world, but they also knew when to turn it off even though they never seemed to.

During their time on the firing range Wolf worked up from getting knocked off his feet or kicked in the face by every gun he fired to at least being able to hit the target. Once that happened Lemur started leaving the ammo and gun racks open at the König pilot's request so he could practice.

The highlight of the week was when his König Wolf sent two of the mechanics to a close by doctor by way of a single kick when they tried to take a look at her without her Master or his Organoid, or even Vailen's Organoid, Tyrant, around. The jade green Organoid had a somewhat calming effect on the massive black on red wolf that no one could explain. It was that incident that had him standing in between Razor and his König.

"Your Zoid just sent two of my only mechanics to the hospital Wolf," the blonde haired man said with a calm tone despite the anger in his eyes, "They aren't able to tell me what happened right now, so you need to."

"From what I can tell they were trying to get a look at her mechanics without me or Blaze, or even Tyrant around," Wolf replied seriously, noticing out of the corner of his eye a flash of green pop out from behind the leg of Vailen's Zaber Fang for a second before disappearing again, "I thought you and I had a deal, no one touches my König but you and me. What were they doing Razor?"

"I couldn't say, I didn't tell them to do anything," Razor replied, his anger now directed to the mechanics of his crew.

"And I don't buy that for a second. My König scares the hell out of those two, why would they go near her without orders?"

"I don't know, but I can say this, they won't do it twice if they come back."

"We've got a training session in about an hour right?" the blue eyed young man asked trying to divert the older man's attention, "Let's do live fire distance for a change," he added after a quick nod from Razor.

"Sounds like you want to blow off some steam, alright I'll get the Zoids loaded, you go find Tango or Lemur and ask them to set the range for us."

Wolf gave a loose salute before he headed to the small arms range inside the underground base. As he went around the last corner he ran head long into Melody. He quickly helped the brown haired young woman up and helped her pick up the items she dropped.

"Looking for Tango and Lemur?" she asked as she steadied the papers and packages in her arms.

"Yeah, they still in the small arms range?" the black haired young man asked in reply with a smile.

"Nope, last I saw they were headed towards the kitchen after I delivered some homemade cookies," Melody replied with a giggle, "They'll be hunting a hiding place they can both get to so sneak a peek first then announce yourself if you want any of those cookies."

The brown haired woman went on her way without reply or further word as Wolf found himself watching her walk towards the hanger. When Wolf finally found the two cousins they appeared to be guarding a not so well hidden box on the counter.

"I'm not here for the cookies, Razor asked me to find you, we need the long distance range set up for training this afternoon, this business with those two mechanics and my wolf has us both a little on edge," Wolf said with a chuckle when both men's eyes shot open in panic, "I'll give you one minute to hide those things before I call the boss and let him know I found you," he added with a chuckle.

"Wolf you've got to be the greatest Rookie ever!" Lemur, a man in his mid twenties with a deep tan and black hair, replied with a wide grin as the younger man left the room.

About a half an hour later Wolf's black on red König Wolf was standing on a high dune next to Razor's black and white Zaber Fang while their pilots awaited the all clear. The goggles on the König were down while its pilot watched the targets being set up at the other end of the range.

"Ten targets, you've got twenty shots, it had better not take all of those," Razor's voice came through a voice only link just after the 'all clear' signal was given.

The König's sniper rifles slammed into place and fired off ten shots in rapid succession before the rifles went back to their stowed position. A split second after the guns closed again, Razor watched the ten targets down range go up in blasts of sand that looked a series of explosives set to timers.

"All targets down Boss, who shot that?" Lemur's voice played through the radio.

"That would be the Rookie," Razor replied with an impressed tone, "Set em up to move this time boys."

The König's rifles fell back into the open position and the goggles remained down, Razor could just make out the optics moving in them as he moved his Zaber Fang in front of the König.

"Hey, no fair, blocking close view makes a shot impossible at any distance," Wolf said faking a complaining tone very well.

"I wanted to talk a second before you shoot these targets," the blonde replied with a chuckle of his own, "How did you do that just now?"

"Practice on a set of ruins near home, Blaze and I set the scope on this thing using a set of broken windows when I was ten, I'd been shooting those same windows for target practice every few days up till I left," the blue eyed young man replied honestly.

"Well, you're going to have all the time in the world to hit these, so take it, we're all alone in this desert, no worries."

"I had Blaze for a practice target, granted he's still here so I guess I will."

The König shifted its footing to a wider stance and lowered its head just a fraction as the Zaber stepped out of its line of fire. Wolf picked a target to follow, the only sign outside the Zoid was the twin barrel rifle pivoting along its ninety degree range of fire. The first shot hit the first target's outside edge but the second nailed it dead on to Razor's shock. The rest of Wolf's ammo never touched anything but sand and rock to the black haired young man's disappointment.

"How's Rookie doing on the other ranges?" Razor asked Tango and Lemur as they all watched the black on red König walking back to base.

"Welp, his long distance shooting with a sniper rifle is decent but getting better, his hand gun skills aren't quite as good but he's got potential, more a matter of practice time at this point," Lemur replied with a rare serious tone, "He seems more comfortable at a distance though."

"He's got no trouble with his emotions, practically wears them on his sleeve in fact, seems to be fitting in with the other members fairly well," Tango, a man with three red stripes running down the sides of his head in his black hair, added with a serious tone as well, "Melody and Luna seem to like him, Tango and I love the kid's sense of humor, Vanessa and the other foxes not so much though."

"Reasons?"

"Vanessa is pissed that he figured out you and her were together, also seems to think his attitude could be a little more friendly, other than that he's okay by her," Tango replied instead of his cousin, "Sarah Beth just seems to think he's a smart ass after that kiss to the cheek in the hanger and a few other playful maneuvers in more recent training sessions."

"Tammy just doesn't like the idea of yet another boy in the crew, very strong minded that girl," Lemur finished with a chuckle.

"What about Hawk?"

"Hates the kid, he's pissed that Wolf out scored him in less than half the time on the rifle range first try," the man with red streaked hair replied with a chuckle, "Also thinks he's been trying to horn in on Luna."

"Luna, really?"

"You know Hawk, in love with all the wrong girls."

"Your names?" Razor said with the same dead serious tone.

"Tango and Lemur," Tango replied with a chuckle, "Nice effort though boss."

"Had to try, go ransack that box of cookies," The blonde said with a chuckle just before the cousins took off towards the kitchen.

*The foxes and Vanessa are on their way back, expected time of arrival at the village is two hours,* a bright green Organoid growled as the blonde inspected his black and white Zaber Fang.

"Thanks Tyrant, where is Vailen hiding out today?"

*Not sure, I opted to stay with his Zaber while it's being refitted,* Tyrant replied with a shrug of his mechanical arms, *Hawk just asked I relay the message.*

"Is it just me or has he been spending a lot more time in the village of late?"

*His check ins have become a little less frequent as well,* the bright green Organoid replied, *Perhaps an investigation is in order?*

"Yeah, I'm gonna head into town tell the mayor about the new hand, I'll check on him while I'm there," Razor answered with a resigned tone.

Wolf was on the other end of the base in the small arms range with Tango and Lemur when the fox sisters and Vanessa got back to base. Melody nearly took the door off its frame out of excitement; she ended up with Tango and Lemur's firearms pointed at her feet before she could blink. The three older people were shocked to see Wolf had kept his aim down range despite his eyes locking with the brown haired young woman's.

"Either you've got excellent peripherals Wolf, or you're not used to having to keep your guard up," Lemur said as the three men cleared their weapons and put them away.

"Could be Rookie just doesn't like looking a target in the face," Tango joked as he and Wolf waited for Lemur to lock the racks and close up the ammo safe.

"Could be I don't like pointing deadly weapons at people, friend or foe," Wolf replied with a serious tone, "My instinct is fists first, no guns back home, no need for them."

"And yet he can out shoot our top rifleman without thinking," Lemur said with a disbelieving tone as they all headed for the hanger.

"Natural talent with a long range shot aside, I can understand not liking to point the things at people," Tango jumped in with a more serious tone, "Especially since that's how we taught him," he added with a laugh.

"I swear if you two don't knock off this talking like I'm not standing here bit you've got going, I'll put you both to my König," Wolf said with a joking tone.

"Did you hear something Tango? Sounded like a whine maybe?"

Wolf just laughed it off and walked away as the cousins 'inspected' the hall looking for some imaginary thing. When he got to the hanger everyone in the Trazen crew, minus Tango and Lemur, was standing around Vanessa's Heldigunner. He stepped up between Melody and Hawk with a small smirk on his face when the red haired man scowled at him and moved away.

"Thought you didn't like him?" Wolf whispered as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I don't, but I can't help where he wants to stand," Melody replied in an equally hushed tone, "Besides, he's harmless, just a sore loser at some things."

"Alright, start with the Heldigunner, then we'll deal with the foxes," Razor's voice interrupted before Wolf could agree, "Wolf, you've got training with the sisters, don't worry Melody will be fine."

The black haired man raised an eyebrow and looked to his left at Melody who shrugged and went to help unload the supplies the village let them keep and the fresh produce some of the villagers grew. Wolf simply followed the blue haired sisters towards what was basically an overflow storage area to spar a bit with Luna and Tammy in a two versus one scenario they'd cooked up during their time out. It hadn't taken the three days he'd actually worked with them before they left to figure out that Luna was the best fighter of the three sisters, it had however taken him a couple rounds with Tammy to find out she didn't play fair like her sisters.

"Let me ask you something," Wolf said while he was fending the two women off, "Melody said you three fight like wild cats when you need to, why are you holding back now?"

"Don't get cocky Rookie," Luna shot back as she launched a series of hooks and jabs.

Wolf shunted each hit to the side, guiding one of the hooks straight into one of Tammy's kicks forcing the youngest sister off balance. In the split second Luna hesitated to see if Tammy fell or not Wolf grabbed her by the arm and gave her a quick jab in the chest and poked her nose with his index finger.

"You're insane you know that right?" Sarah Beth called from the side lines.

"It's a popular theory, but that's disabling blows, in a real fight she wouldn't be able to breathe because of broken ribs and a broken nose."

"He's right, I hesitated, I'm out of this round," Luna said extending a hand to Wolf, "Tammy would be too."

The youngest of the sisters went to look down out of confusion and felt the training baton against her chin and went wide eyed. Wolf gave her a smile and a wink before pulling the baton away from her neck.

"How didn't I see that?" Tammy asked with more shock than anger in her tone.

"Don't know, but if you had fallen it probably would have worked out better in the long run," Sarah Beth replied with a small chuckle, "It's starting to look like this crew has a new best fighter Luna."

"Hey, I'm learning loads from you ladies, I'm all defense," Wolf said shaking his head quickly.

"Yeah, but you just took out two of the three best in one offensive set," the oldest sister said with a serious tone, "Luna is the best here for that matter."

"I guess this is what comes of being bullied for more years than one wants to count," the black haired young man replied with a shrug, "Look, I'm not after the title, and there are so many 'what ifs' in this fight I'll let you keep it."

"Don't let Hawk hear you say that," Razor's voice said from the doorway, "He already hates you for not taking his rifle shot title properly."

"He out shot me three times after that first round, it's not like he didn't take it back," Wolf shot angrily as he headed towards the boss, his eyes shifting back and forth between blue and red.

"Don't take that out on me Rookie, I'm just telling you why he doesn't like you," the blonde replied with a chuckle.

Wolf gritted his teeth, closed his eyes and took a breath, stretching his neck a little as he did, when his eyes opened again they were his usual sapphire blues. He nodded to the older man and left the room headed towards his room and the shower within.

"How'd he fair?" Razor asked once the younger man was out of earshot.

"Took Luna and Tammy in three offensive strikes, I don't know who taught him to fight, but he's got a few military techniques in his repertoire," Sarah Beth replied calmly, "Weird part is, he's blending styles from the Republic and the Empire, he can't possibly know or he wouldn't use them so freely here for fear of us thinking he's military."

"How could he not know his own fighting style?"

"Easy, the person or people who taught him didn't tell him where they learned it," Luna replied with a matter of fact tone, "That's assuming he was taught by someone and didn't just pick it up in one of those bully fights he talks about."

Wolf stepped out of his private bathroom in a cloud of steam, tripping over Blaze's curled up body as he headed for the closet for a clean shirt.

"Would you please find a better place to sleep," the black haired young man said with a chuckle as he gently kicked the Organoid between his boosters.

*If you get a bigger room we won't have this problem anymore,* Blaze growled without moving, *Besides, I've got a straight shot at any unexpected guests from here.*

Wolf was about to reply when the door cracked open and Blaze was on his feet with his head against the door, leaving a small impact dent in the door itself, before he could think.

"Blaze, unexpected yes, over kill and slightly early, also yes," the blue eyed young man sighed as he shoved the Organoid away from the door, "Who is it?"

"It's Melody, I came to check on you like I said I would after a training session," the brown haired young woman's voice came from the other side.

Wolf, forgetting he was shirtless, opened the door to let her in. Melody turned eight shades of red and immediately averted her gaze to the floor and stepped in. It wasn't until the young woman was sitting at his desk, cheeks still burning red, that the younger man realized he was shirtless.

"Sorry, if I'd known it was you I'd have left Blaze as the doorstop till I had a shirt," He said as he moved to the small closet.

"I-It's o-okay, just wasn't really expecting it is all," Melody stammered trying to keep her eyes on the floor rather than Wolf's well toned muscles and the long faint scar that lined up with the one across his right eye.

"Well you can look up now either way," Wolf said with a warm tone, "And it's nothing to be worried about, I know what I look like, I got used to gawkers when I was eleven and I don't bite medics when they touch," he added with a chuckle.

"Are you feeling okay after your sparing session?" the brown haired young woman asked changing the subject when she saw he was wearing his lightweight grey tunic.

They spent the next few minutes talking before Razor called them both down to the hanger and had them mount up for a run into town. As they walked around Wolf understood why the Trazens would want to help these people in any way possible. The people were friendly but the black haired young man could tell most of them had nothing to offer, he was reminded of home, money had little meaning, everything was done on trade. Razor showed him how the Imperial Republic border ran right down the village's main thoroughfare and how most of the produce farms were only big enough to feed maybe a family per season.

"These people get no help, the regimes won't acknowledge a place that has both Imperials and Republicans living peacefully, problem with that is, most of these folk have no idea the two sides are at war, some of the children aren't even told they're on the border at all." Razor said as soon as they were back at the Zoids, "We get them everything, meds, food, even building materials if a storm takes something out."

"I'm all for that," Wolf replied with a solemn tone before he climbed into his König's cockpit.

Once they were on their way back the black haired man opened a private link to the blue and red Pteras flying over head.

"Melody, I have to ask, how did you get here?" Wolf asked quietly.

"I was running away from home, my mother died, my stepfather was a jerk and probably crazy to boot, so I stole his Pteras and booked," the brown haired young woman replied with a sad tone, "Luna and Tammy stumbled into my camp one night and I guess I followed them home. What about you? Why were you out so far in the desert by yourself?"

"My village elders thought I'd caused enough trouble for them, asked me to leave when I took out a crew that hit the place," the black haired man replied with a chuckle, "Of course after I did it a second time they begged me to stay, didn't listen."

"Well they must have been lousy pilots to be fought off by a fourteen year old," Melody replied with a giggle.

"They were idiots, started shooting and stopped moving," Wolf replied with a laugh.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Two months went by and Wolf's training sessions were lasting longer every time in hand to hand as the fox sisters got better at predicting his moves and Zoid versus Zoid as he improved. He had actually managed a lucky sniper shot and won his first sniper versus sniper training fight with Tango, but he only managed that one time so far. His shooting skills with small arms and rifles improved drastically once he'd gotten a handle on controlling his reactions to recoil.

Wolf started having ideas to make his König Wolf better; he started with reinforced joints and also cleaned and made a lot of modifications to the goggles of the König as well to make the long distance targets clearer in the sights since they seemed to fuzz out beyond a certain range. During that time he grew closer to Melody, confiding in her as a big sister of sorts after training, mostly about how angry he felt at stupid mistakes or how much he wanted to boast when he won but his modesty wouldn't let him.

After three months with the Trazen crew, the König Wolf had been completely restored and rebuilt from the ground up at least twice and Wolf was feeling more and more for Melody as they talked, mostly while Wolf was fixing the König, though he didn't want to admit it knowing he'd one day leave the crew behind. Razor and his older brother Vailen were keeping eyes on the pair, Razor thinking of ways to try and get the pair together, Vailen trying to keep his brother out of it.

Wolf did get to go on a few raids as an unarmed observer to learn the tactics of the crew first hand, though they'd mostly been boring for the young man. In one case he'd wished he'd ignored his orders and jumped in because the odds appeared so far out of the crew's favor. They walked away with everything they'd gone for, but there were some minor injuries the König pilot was sure he could have prevented.

"Alright Wolf, mount up, you're on observation status again but you're fully loaded if we get into trouble this time," Razor said as they readied the Zoids for a raid.

Wolf nodded excitedly and ran to his König, which had gotten used to the base and stopped pacing the hanger about a month into his stay. They were out of the hanger, Blaze flying over head, less than ten seconds after everyone else so the crew wasn't behind schedule to make the rendezvous point. Wolf put the König on a dune about half a kilometer from where the rest of his crew would be hitting the convoy and set up to watch.

*Wolf, this is a bad idea, something doesn't feel right,* Blaze growled from his place next to the König while they waited.

"What do you mean?"

*Four Zoids to escort four Gustavs full of rations and weapons, it's not enough, there has to be more.*

"We'll cover them if we need to, that's why we're here, these goggles can see further than the radar right now," Wolf replied sounding a little more confident, "And we've got a private com to Ripper and Vailen both to warn them anyway."

About the time Wolf started to get a cramp in his right leg from waiting so long the König's radar lit up with eight new Imperial contacts added to the rest of his crewmates. He flipped the goggles and rifles into place and readied them to fire, keeping his finger on the trigger until he might be needed. The four escort Rev Raptors went down fast, but before anyone could celebrate Wolf spotted new movement behind his team.

"Ripper you've got new bogies coming in from your nine o'clock, count twelve, repeat twelve Raptors and three Dark Horns," the black haired man shouted into his radio.

Razor watched three shots fly over the convoy from Wolf's direction toward an unseen target and he opened the com to Ripper hollering orders at Hawk and Tango to find the new targets. About the time he turned his black and white Zaber to face the direction Wolf's shots were headed four more flew over his head and took out two Rev Raptors that were clearing the top of the next dune.

"Open fire!" The blonde screamed just as everyone else got into position.

It took ten minutes for them to clear the Rev Raptors and another five to finish out the Dark Horns. Wolf could hear everyone in the main battle zone panting as he swept his visual range for more contacts.

"All clear, no movement at my twelve o'clock," The black haired man muttered.

"That's moving target sniper training passed for the week Wolf," Vailen laughed as the rest of the crew set about getting the convoy moving towards the village.

"Can we get moving before someone else decides to come along?" Tango's voice broke in over the public channel with a chuckle.

They left the weapons sitting in the desert while they took the ration supplies and headed for the village. Wolf heard the Trazen base frequency crack open and Razor gave a bug out order to head for site Delta. The black haired man waited till they were well away from the raid area to open the private link to Razor's Zoid to ask a few question. It didn't take them long to get to the village, they simply dropped the towing lines and headed for Delta without waiting for thanks or payment.

The journey took them into a deep canyon and then up a rock face that had a nearly natural stair case for Zoids. The König let out a small growl of protest when they came to a narrow stone bridge that looked to be barely two paw widths wide.

"You're kidding me, I have to tight rope into this place?" Wolf complained as he placed his König on the edge of the plateau next to the bridge.

"Or you could jump it," Tango replied with a laugh.

"I should do that just to shut you up Tango," the black haired young man replied with a chuckle.

The König immediately started taking a few distance readings and gave a 'you're crazy' type growl as Wolf pulled the controls to move away from the edge. He shut the radio off and gave the wolf a comforting pat on the controls and an encouraging line or two before he looked back to the bridge.

"You got this König, all yours," Wolf muttered as he took his hands off the controls.

Razor sat watching from the opposite plateau the bridge connected to as the König pawed at the ground a little and anchored it's back legs in a launch pose. A half second later the König took off running, jumping at the edge of the plateau, bounding two paws off the mid section of the bridge for a little more distance before sliding to a stop directly in front of him.

"Not quite the jump I was expecting to see," Razor said with a matter a fact tone.

"She did it the way she wanted," Wolf replied coolly, "Either way, we're over so let's move on."

A large section at the far edge of the plateau opened up to reveal an elevator. Razor and Vailen's two Zabers went down first to clear the base and make sure the security systems didn't try to blow up the whole place. Wolf went second at Vanessa's insistence, since he had the next fastest gun strapped to his back. As the elevator went down the black haired young man figured out the platform his Zoid stood on wasn't just moving down, but further into the plateau.

"Oh shit," the blue eyed young man muttered as he spotted a mass of Zoids, every weapon following the elevator's track down.

He could make out six Helcats, three Gun Snipers, and two Rev Raptors tracking the elevator, he also noticed two totally powered down Molgas and three Sinkers sitting in a corner of the massive cavern. It was the three solid black Command Wolves that gave him the most concern though since they carried the biggest guns and because the only reason he knew they were there, was because the König could see them.

The radio was giving off nothing but static when his reflexes finally took over and the sniper rifles on the König's back slammed into their open position and the command circuit switched on so the Command Wolves turned their guns on the other Zoids. When the elevator stopped the König stepped slowly off the platform, its weapons still locked and loaded, it wasn't till the elevator started going back up that Wolf realized his mistake.

"Hold fire, friendly target, repeat friendly target," Razor's voice rang through the radio on an open channel.

Every weapon in the massive cavern powered down and stopped tracking the König so Wolf disengaged his own, keeping a thumb near the switch just in case as he moved towards Razor and Vailen's Zaber Fangs. The König however did not disengage the command circuit until the weapons of all three black Command Wolves were cold enough to store ice in. When the rest of the crew arrived Wolf still had no answers to the questions floating around his head, but it didn't take him long to notice Melody's Pteras landing on his left and Lemur's Redler to his right.

"Boss said friendly, you can get out of the cockpit Rookie," Lemur laughed as everyone got out of their own Zoids.

"Yeah, just trying to figure what next Lemur," Wolf said shaking off the weird feeling as he opened the cockpit and dropped to the floor, Blaze landed behind him with a loud thud having been on the König's back most of the trip in.

"Come on, there isn't much here to look at but we've got a few beds around," Melody said as she pulled his arm to make him follow.

"What is this place?" the black haired young man asked while walking backwards, still staring at the Zoids that had been aiming at him.

"This is where we store combat Zoids we've found in repairable condition out in the desert, we've sold a few, Tango and Lemur just run around in some of them," the brown haired young woman replied as they continued down a small tunnel away from the hanger, "The sisters have used a couple of the Command Wolves as spare parts too."

Wolf turned on his toe as soon as they left the hanger area well behind, they spent the rest of the short walk in silence. He could feel Melody's gaze on him as he was picking an open room to sleep in, he quickly took her by the hand and led her into a room and closed the door.

"Melody, what's wrong?" the black haired man asked with a serious tone once he'd gotten the lights on.

"It's nothing, Tango said you saved their butts out there," the young woman replied with a tone that confused Wolf, he couldn't tell if it was happiness, confusion or worry that he heard more of.

"Spotted some extra folk that shouldn't have been there is all," Wolf said placing his hands on her shoulders, "We're all safe, no big deal."

"Wolf, have someone show you the way to the com station here, I want to talk to you," Razor's voice played through the speaker on his radio.

Melody shook his hands off, regretting it the minute she did and leaving Wolf feeling like he'd done something wrong. They both went to the com room and Razor decided it wouldn't hurt to have her around for the briefing.

"Okay, I've got a job for you Wolf," the blonde said with a serious tone, "You'll be assigned as cover for the fox sisters' next raid."

"If you think I'm ready for it, I'll do it," Wolf replied calmly.

"Your close quarters combat still needs work so I want you at a half kilometer distance to provide cover, you'll probably end up not being needed but after today I want to play things a little safer for a while."

"I understand perfectly, when do we roll?"

"In four hours, you'll be hitting a small time courier with a combat Zoid on escort duty, we can't find out what the cargo is exactly, but we know it takes a Gustav to move it, if we get lucky the three Command Wolves can carry it since you're not taking a Gustav with you."

"Ariel support at all?"

"Not this time, we need to lay as low as possible, these guys don't run the business alone so they can't see it coming," Razor replied calmly, "If one got a call back to their offices before we got out, no chance we'd be able to fence whatever it is."

"Or possibly collect the courier fee for delivering it," Vailen added with a serious tone.

"That fee goes down when it's late, let's hope we can figure out which before it's too late to matter," Melody said with a worried tone, "My recommendation is to simply take over the convoy and collect, don't even chance that we won't be able to fence it."

"We can inspect it before we move on and have Sarah Beth make the call," Wolf said with calm tone as he moved to the window that overlooked the hanger, "If she says it's good for selling we'll do that, and we can always ask the couriers if she can't figure it out," he added with a short chuckle.

Razor and Vailen laughed, Melody smacked the black haired young man in the chest playfully before they all sobered and got back to business. Four hours went by quick, Wolf and the Tillion sisters had full payloads in their Zoids, ready for anything that might come their way. It didn't take them an hour to reach the rendezvous point and get things set up once they were out in the open desert again.

"Alright, we've got twenty minutes if the time table is right, Wolf I need you on full alert in case they're ahead of schedule, you'll see them first," Sarah Beth said through the open video link.

"Rodger that, going surveillance," the black haired young man said as he hit the proper switches.

"Have Blaze hook up while you're at it, see if he can't confirm numbers for us," Luna said with a more 'friendly request' tone than her sister had used.

"Sound idea. Blaze you heard the lady, hook us up," Wolf said with a chuckle.

Blaze launched into the air as a ball of red light that fused to the König Wolf's core. Immediately Wolf could feel the difference in not only the controls but the seat as it leaned back slightly. The radar's range expanded a few hundred meters all around, the goggles flipped down and the guns opened up to their ready position.

"Surveillance up and running, all scopes currently clear," the black haired young man said with a serious tone.

"So uhh, Wolf, would you be interested in dating Tammy at all?" Luna's curious tone broke the momentary silence and the König nearly fell off its dune, "Are you okay?!" she asked sounding a little more panicked.

"I'm fine, you just caught me a little off guard with that one," Wolf replied with a calm tone as he righted his Zoid.

"Wolf, I did say FULL alert, did I not?" Sarah Beth laughed from her own cockpit.

"Yeah, but geez, now ain't exactly the time for a question like that."

"Does that mean you wouldn't go out with me?" Tammy asked sounding a little hurt despite the giggle Wolf heard.

"I didn't say that, if I wasn't in love with another I would," Wolf replied diplomatically with a small smile on his own face.

"I knew it! You and Melody are official!" Luna yelled with a triumphant tone.

"Did I say Melody?" the blue eyed young man asked with an even tone that hid well the fact that was exactly who he'd meant, "Pretty sure I didn't."

"He's got you there Luna, he only said 'another', could be he meant someone from wherever home is," Sarah Beth said as her sister's face fell, "Could be some one from our home."

"Damn, I thought for sure I saw that look Razor and Vanessa get around each other on you two," the middle sister groused as she fell back in her seat.

*Contact coming over the ridge, two kilometers out, ten o'clock direction, heading this way as planned,* Blaze growled from his place in the König's core compartment.

"Rodger Blaze, thanks for the heads up, moving to intercept," Tammy replied cutely as she moved her Command Wolf to the lead spot of the pack.

The three Zoids were painted a reddish orange with white under bellies, but Tammy's had black ear tips in addition to her black paws, while her sisters just left the ears orange. As the three sisters moved towards the convoy Wolf's radar lit up like a Christmas tree, more contacts about a hundred meters behind the courier.

"SHIT! PULL BACK! MORE FOLK COMING IN FROM BEHIND THEM! GET OUT OF THERE!" Wolf screamed as his eyes turned red, anger flooding his system at such a blatant trap.

"Can't, too late, open fire!" Luna's panicked voice came through the com as the sounds of a fire fight broke out.

"Let's go Blaze, give me all the sight you can," the young man muttered as he steeled himself in the cockpit.

He could see Tammy get trapped by three Guysacks and a Command Wolf painted solid white, his first shot took out the scorpion modeled Zoid behind her. His second and third shots nailed two of the Guysacks, one right over the back of Tammy's 'Fox', the other standing next to the Command Wolf on his side of the 'Fox'. Tammy took out the last Guysack herself just as Luna broke free and clobbered the white Command Wolf.

"Tammy, you good?" Wolf asked as he readied for the next round.

"Good to go, minor damage, thanks for the save," the youngest of the three sisters replied with clear relief in her voice.

"Get back in it, plenty left, their coms are jammed so no one's calling home," Sarah Beth half shouted as she went to town on a few more Command Wolves.

Wolf fired three shots that no one knew were coming and nailed three Command Wolves that were sneaking in behind the oldest sister.

"Nice cover Rookie," Luna said with an impressed tone, "Any one left?"

"Two left, their running, scope set, give the order and they'll drop," Wolf replied calmly as he lined up with left side of one of the Guysacks.

"Take it," Sarah Beth ordered just before two shots flew over their heads and dropped the two escaping Zoids, still well within jamming range, "Take out all com units before we leave, I can't keep the jam going after we're out of here," she added with a tired tone.

"The two I took out just now don't need to be bothered with," Wolf said coolly.

The three fox sisters unhooked all the communications equipment from the Gustav and removed the pilot, who had apparently simply passed out in the panic, since there wasn't a mark on him or the snail like Zoid. Sarah Beth was just about to climb into the trailer when three more shots rang out from Wolf's secondary position.

"Rookie what was that?" Luna asked through her hand held radio.

"Three new contacts were in coming, Blaze said their weapons were hot so I fired first," Wolf's voice replied with a calm that sent shiver's down the woman's spine, "Have Tammy check the kills, I think it was a local protection crew," he added after a moment of silence, this time his voice was shaking a little.

"Forget them, we've got to get this thing to the delivery point, Wolf radio home, we'll be back late," Sarah Beth's voice cut in stopping everyone in their tracks, "Now! We've got seventy two hours to get this thing where it's going."

Sarah Beth was quickly out of the trailer and back in her Command Wolf, Luna took the Gustav and Wolf's König immediately turned on the command circuit and moved the middle sister's 'Fox' into an escort position in the back.

"Thanks…Ghost, for keeping my Zoid with us," Luna said when she spotted her com signature moving behind the small convoy.

"I'll stay out of sight of the main group, keep a distance cover and a nasty shock for someone who tries what we just pulled off," Wolf replied with a chuckle, "And Luna, I like the call sign, thanks."

"Hey, you were a ghost to these guys, you were everywhere you needed to be and they never saw you, you earned it," Sarah Beth replied with a serious but light tone, "And you saved all of us at least once, you're our brother now Wolf."

"And she doesn't mean a brother in arms either," Luna added before Wolf could ask, "We're your family now, you ask we'll do, we expect the same of you."

"And you'll have it," the black haired man replied with a smile.

"Our call signs will go after a wolf pack now," Tammy said with some excitement in her tone, "I'll be Omega!"

"Sarah Beth, you're Alpha, you run this pack," Wolf said with a chuckle, "That leaves Beta for Luna."

"Ghost Pack, keep it tight!" Sarah Beth ordered as Luna and Tammy started to fall behind a little.

Luna's Command Wolf, still under the König's control, bounded its way up to the top of a dune opposite the König and Wolf saw his radar's range grow exponentially as they continued on their slow path. It took them two days to get to where the couriers were supposed to drop off what ever it was they were hauling, Wolf never asked and Sarah Beth never told the other sisters either.

"Alright Ghost, you've got the biggest gun, you talk our way in," Sarah Beth said with a confident tone.

"And lets all hope they don't know who the courier was," Wolf muttered before he switched to a channel Luna gave him.

"This is a secure area, what is your business here?" a voice cracked through the radio, the man sounded impatient.

"We're a courier service, tasked with carrying Top Secret materials to these coordinates," Wolf replied with a calm and slightly deeper than normal voice, "My crew and I were tasked with protection for the second leg."

"We weren't informed of a second protection detail. What's your courier ID number?"

"Alpha–bravo–three–eight–five," Luna's voice cut in on a separate frequency, Wolf repeated the numbers through his own radio and the gates opened a short time later.

"Why weren't we told of the second team?" the man's voice asked as the crew entered a massive hanger.

"Last minute, barely got a team together in time to make the rendezvous point," Wolf replied coolly, "Something came up at home base, not sure what, I'm just a hired gun," he added with a short chuckle.

"Well I need you to exit your Zoid for a few minutes, just minor paper work to fill out and I need you to stay here while we inspect the goods, make sure it's all there."

"Alright then," Wolf said with a cautious tone, "Do you mind if my crew remains on guard? Never hurts to be a little overly careful."

"Not at all, just need the lead escort," the man replied just before Wolf switched his radio back to the Trazen frequency.

"I've got to stand on the inspection line with these guys, sign some stuff, you ladies stay put in your Zoids," the black haired young man said with a nervous tone.

"Be careful little brother," Sarah Beth said just before he popped the seals on his cockpit and jumped to the floor.

Two hours went by while the men inspected their haul, Wolf waited with patience and calm he wasn't sure how he was feeling considering the nerves about getting caught. Blaze kept him alert via a small ear bud hooked to the radio on his hip. Every time the Organoid talked it was about the König Wolf being uncomfortable with the people walking so close to her, and the people who seemed to be aiming weapons at their cockpits and Wolf himself.

"Well, we're done here," the man from the radio said with a wide smile as he handed Wolf a massive envelope full of money, "There's a bonus in there for getting it here in one piece and ahead of schedule."

"Thanks, maybe we'll keep that bonus for the short notice activation," Wolf said with a laugh before walking back over to his König Wolf.

"That's an impressive Zoid you've got there, willing to sell it?" the man asked gesturing to the König stopping Wolf in his tracks.

"Nope, had her since I was a kid, plan to have her till I croak," the black haired young man replied with a serious tone before continuing on his way.

The König knelt down for him to climb in easier; the three Command Wolves followed the König out of the hanger while Wolf counted the money.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It took less than a day for them to power back to the Trazen's alpha sight since the heat was off and Razor had moved everyone back. When they made it back from the drop off, Melody welcomed Wolf home specifically by radio before greeting the rest from the control room after the Zoids were shut down. Wolf stood talking to his new sisters for a moment before Razor came in making them stop.

"Hey Wolf, come over here a sec," Razor called from across the hanger.

"Go ahead, we've got the money from the courier drop, we'll head to Trisdale and buy some stuff and leave your cut in your room," Sarah Beth said pushing the younger man towards the leader of the crew, "And we don't short change family so no worries."

"Why do I get the feeling having you three for sisters won't be a bad thing around here?" The black haired young man asked with a chuckle as he walked away from the three sisters.

"What's up Razor?" Wolf asked when he got closer to his boss.

Razor reached in his pocket and pulled out some money and counted out a couple high denomination bills after the young man was close enough to hide the stack from the others. Wolf scratched the scar covering most of his right cheek while he waited.

"Why don't you take Melody out, celebrate your first official downed Zoids with the crew," Razor said handing him the money.

"Thanks Razor, but I don't think we'd make a good pair if that's what you're trying for," the blue eyed young man replied trying to hand the money back.

"Hey, you two are already the talk of the base, may as well make it true," Vailen said with a chuckle as he approached the two men.

"Alright, I guess it couldn't hurt," the black haired young man said as he breathed a sigh of resignation.

"Melody, come down to the hanger for me a sec, please," Razor said into the radio he had with him.

Wolf and the brothers waited in the hanger talking about where Wolf could improve his skills as well as a few places the two might go for dinner.

"Why am I down here?" Melody asked startling the two brothers but drawing a smile from Wolf.

"Wolf, it's your turn now," Vailen said as he tried to drag Razor out of the hanger.

"Melody, care to go into town and get dinner with me?" Wolf asked nervously, "Maybe as far as Trisdale?"

"Oh come on, why can't I see how it plays out!?" Razor half screamed, half laughed as he was dragged out of the hanger by his brother causing both of them to chuckle slightly.

"Well, that was horrifying," Wolf muttered with nervous chuckle, "So, dinner?"

"Why do I get the feeling I should say no, but my heart is screaming yes?" Melody asked as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Maybe it's because you think I'm cute," Wolf said as he headed towards his König. Melody followed him and Blaze was behind her.

They went to a larger town than the Trazen's home village, if only to stay away from more rumors of them being a couple. The König showed every sign of being extremely nervous about being left alone in yet another place it was unfamiliar with so Blaze stayed with her while Wolf and Melody found a place to eat.

"So, what do we talk about?" Wolf asked with a nervous chuckle while they waited for a waitress to bring their menus.

"Well, I'd like to know why your parents named you Wolf," Melody replied with a giggle.

"Three months you've known me, never seen me respond to, or give, any other name besides Ghost, and you ask that?"

"You bet, it's a strange thing to name your kid after all. So, why did they?"

"They didn't," the black haired man replied with a smile of his own, "My full name is Michael Wolfgang Novis; Mom called me Mike until I was a year old, my Dad started calling me Wolf before that though. It's pretty well stuck now," he added with a chuckle.

"Well, Wolf does seem to suit you better, but what made your Dad start that?"

"Thanks, my brother, me and half the village I call home would agree with you. As for my Dad, Mom tells me it was because of my gift for imitating the noises of the animal while crying."

The silence that came between them was comfortable as they looked over what selection the small menu offered.

"You said your eyes change when you get angry, and your brother's too," Melody said with an uncertain tone, "Do his turn red too?"

"His actually turn a pretty wicked shade of gold, his natural eye color is the same as mine though so we're not sure why they're different," the blue eyed young man replied with a chuckle, "My dad's turned an almost emerald green from very icy blue."

"Seen them both angry enough to change their eyes huh?"

"I've only seen my brother's change once in his entire life, just never cared enough to get that angry."

"You seem to be able to change your eyes at will though, why is that?"

"I've always been the more emotional of the two of us, but I also know a little about controlling them and using them against people."

"Sounds true enough, you turned them red at me just for following when we met," Melody replied with a giggle before her gaze moved to the table, "I want to ask a personal question, but I'm not sure how to go about it without sounding weird or offensive," she added with a more uncertain tone.

"Then just ask point blank, I've never minded that," Wolf laughed as he leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest.

"How did you get the scars?" the brown haired woman asked bluntly, she grew slightly concerned when he started laughing quietly.

"If that's all you wanted to know, you had nothing to worry about in the first place," the black haired man said with a smile, "The one across my eye and the very faint one on my chest are from the same accident when I was three."

"What happened exactly? You'd figure a doctor would fix the facial scar over the chest after all."

"Well, I don't know if you'll believe this, but at the time my village had this old abandoned house standing on the outskirts, some said it belonged to an old military base close by, others said it belonged to one of the founders, I never have been sure. Well I wandered in there trying to hide for a game, small kid, scary house, barely anyone in town would think to look there. I ended up falling through the floor."

"I believe the story, but still why didn't they fix your face?"

"Sand road village, Doc in town was also the local shoe maker, he wasn't sure he could stitch it without causing nerve damage so he sewed up my chest so it would only leave a faint scar, left the more gnarly two open to heal on their own."

"I only see one Wolf, where's this second scar?"

"Under my eyebrow, my head jerked back as it hit so it's a short one, hides well don't it?" the black haired young man replied with a chuckle as he reached for her hand.

Melody and Wolf both felt a short tingle run up their arms when he took her hand in his and placed two of her fingers on the short scar above his right eye. The black haired man didn't want to let go, but knew he had to since the food was coming; Melody hated it when he did let go.

"Tell me a bit about you Melody Rosten," He said once the waiter got out of earshot.

"Well, I was named after my father's mother, my father died of some kind of sickness when I was three years old, I grew up in a small village on the Imperial side of the border, my mother's name was Gwendolyn, she died of the same thing my father died of when I was only just turning ten years old and my best friend there left before I did. Wasn't there long enough to pick up any ex-boyfriends."

"You said you ran away from home, what made you do that?" Wolf asked with a worried tone despite himself.

"I also said my step dad was a crazy jerk," Melody replied with a giggle, "But if that's all you wanted to know you had no reason to sound worried."

"That mean I get to hear the tale?"

"I was probably a month into ten years old at the time things started getting bad, Mom had recently passed away, my step dad started getting into trouble at the local pub, he liked to pick fights when he drank, and he drank, a lot. Before Mom died he was okay, good to us and all that jazz, even took me to see a play three days away from home, one way, despite hating the idea of sitting through a play."

"Sounds like losing your Mom drove him to it."

"It hit everyone in town pretty hard, but even I got over it in a few months, when I left it had been almost a year and he was still drinking like a fish and picking fights with everyone, even me on occasion."

"He hit you?" Wolf asked sounding a little angry at the idea.

"Only once, the next morning I turned his ass in, packed my clothes and every food related item in the house and took off in his Pteras," Melody replied with an almost regretful tone, "I'd been out about a week and a half when Tammy and Luna came across my camp on their way back in from a supply run."

"Do you ever regret that decision?" the black haired young man asked seriously.

"Not as often as the first few days out by myself, especially when I realized I didn't actually know how to cook," the brown haired young woman laughed, "I never regret leaving, but I regret not keeping in touch some times, just to see how my step dad is doing after all these years, assuming he didn't drink himself to death that is."

"Only regret I have right now is leaving without telling my little brother he'd be safer without me around," Wolf said with a somber tone, "He really didn't seem to understand why I was leaving."

"Why did you leave?"

"Remember what I said about my village elders?"

"Yeah, they begged you to stay after beating a few bandits a second time."

"They told me why they wanted to run me off the first time, the jerks were paying the bandits to hit the village so we could get a little help from the Republican Army; they wanted an army and got me instead."

"You did punch the one who told you that right?"

"Knocked two teeth down his throat and broke his nose," Wolf said with a short smirk, "But Daniel and my mother neither one know about that, so Daniel still believes I just left to explore," he added, the regret leaking back into his tone, "Probably feels like I abandoned him like our Dad did."

"I'm sure he understands why you wanted to get away from home for a while," Melody said with a soothing tone, taking one of his hands in hers, "What happened to your father?"

"No clue, he left the village one day, promised he'd see me in a week, never came back, the scars were still healing and my brother was still in diapers. No one came to say they found him or that he'd died in action or anything like that."

"Was he military?"

"Transporter, liked to run both sides of the border is what Mom said."

"Could be the authorities got him for that."

"Could be, but something in my gut tells me my mother wasn't exactly truthful, don't know why but there was a lot of flyovers, most of the time it was three or four Pteras bombers, but only while my father was out, they never came when he was home."

"How many flyovers were made the last time he left?"

"None, it was like everything changed the last time he left."

The two moved to happier subjects like the newly named Ghost Pack and Wolf earning his call sign through the sister's that had, in their own way, adopted him into their family. They also spoke of some childhood memories from when they were both still enchanted with their homes. It wasn't until the small diner's manager came over and asked them to leave so he could lock up for the night that they realized just how late it had gotten.

By the time they reached the Trazen's desert base the morning sun was peaking over the ridge and Melody was out cold in the back seat of the König's cockpit. Wolf laid the young woman in his bed since he had no idea which room was hers and didn't want to risk waking anyone, before he fell asleep in the desk chair; his feet up on the desk and Blaze curled up against the door to keep anyone from coming in at all.

When Melody woke up nearly ten hours after they got back, Blaze was standing over her, his smoke grey eyes staring into her bright hazels. She nearly flew through the wall trying to get away from him before her sleep addled brain remembered who he was.

"Blaze, what the hell boy?" the brown haired young woman muttered as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

*Wolf asked me to keep an eye on you,* the Organoid growled as he inched away from the bed.

"He probably didn't mean quite like that," Melody replied as she slipped off the bed, "Where is old blue eyes anyway?"

*Razor called him to the training field ten minutes ago, if my sense of timing is correct, we'll be able to leave the room without anyone noticing for the next five minutes,* Blaze growled with a chuckle when the girl's shot open as she figured out who's room she was in.

"Let's go, you go to Wolf, I'll be going to my own room."

*Wolf said to stay with you, even after you woke up.*

Melody felt a mix of emotions as the Organoid informed her of all his orders. She was flustered at the fact Wolf felt the need to look after her, annoyed that he thought she needed looking after and happy that Blaze thought well enough of her not to just leave like Tyrant might have. Before Blaze could make a move to get out of her way she hugged him around the base of his neck.

*You're lucky I'm not like Tyrant,* the red and black Organoid growled with a short hissed laugh, *At least in the fact I don't mind being hugged.*

"You woke up with a five year old for a new master," Melody said with a smile, "So you had to get used to it, Tyrant didn't."

*Four minutes and counting,* Blaze growled with a chuckle as she let him go.

Melody stuck her head out the door for a moment before running as quietly as she could to her door and ducking into the small room, Blaze only half a step behind her the whole way. She nearly hit the ceiling when Blaze closed the door with his tail since she hadn't heard him following her.

"How do you walk so quietly with such massive paws made of metal?" she asked as she headed for the closet.

*Practice, many hours of sneaking around the village and ruins with Wolf,* Blaze replied as he curled up on the floor.

"That doesn't even make sense, Wolf said you guys came from a sand road village, how is that the same thing?"

*It's not, but it does make one learn how not to leave a trail, that means silence as well as covering one's tracks.*

Melody was almost out of her shirt when Blaze curled up on the floor with a few loud scrapes of his tail, the Organoid turned his head to face the door when he noticed she'd turned almost as red his armor. He also heard her mutter something about kicking him out before she stepped into the bathroom to finish changing.

"Melody, training is over for the day, I need you to meet up with me and Wolf in the hanger," Razor's voice played through the radio she'd left on the desk.

The black and red Organoid got up and fumbled with the thing, nearly dropping it twice and juggling it a third time, before he got his claws the way he needed them to send a reply. The growling Wolf and Razor heard come back through the speaker had the black haired young man laughing his head off when Razor looked at it funny.

"Blaze says she's in the shower, probably be out in a few minutes and that he'd tell her," Wolf translated once he'd caught his breath, "He also mentioned something about more Organoid friendly radios, I didn't quite catch it all."

"And just what is Blaze doing with Melody in her quarters?" Razor asked with a knowing smile.

"Hey, you need to wipe that damn grin off your face before I do," the black haired man replied coolly, "She fell asleep in the König last night on our way back, I didn't know which room was hers so I stuck her in mine, and went to sleep in my chair."

"The gentleman ploy only works if you don't leave your Organoid to watch over her," the older blonde replied with a chuckle.

"I made that order last night, told him to keep an eye on her, make sure she didn't freak out waking up in the wrong room," Wolf laughed as he headed back towards his König.

"And he's still with her now because?" Razor asked with a teasing tone.

"I can threaten Blaze with dents, you on the other hand…I'll break your damn nose," the younger man replied with a cold tone as his eyes shifted to a light red, "Leave it…Now."

"Oooh, touchy. Alright, nothing happened and Blaze wanted to stay with her, probably to keep from getting bored," the blonde conceded, raising his hands with his palms out, "You know, for a guy as normally calm mannered as you, you're getting hard to predict as far as your emotions go."

"Don't like it when folk talk about a man and woman's private affairs like that, joking or not," Wolf replied with a serious tone, "Wouldn't want me joking about your relationship with Vanessa would you?"

"Point conceded, but still man, you really are getting a bit touchier recently, everything good?"

"Yeah, just first time in a long while that I've had someone I care this much about."

Wolf calmed his nerves a little before the two men started talking about his technique in the field and his improvements on the other ranges. Razor also added to some of the hand gesture training he'd received from Luna and Sarah Beth while they were on the courier drop off. It wasn't long before Melody and Blaze got to the hanger, the brown haired young woman looking a little embarrassed about something.

"Alright, you two are going out to hit a jewelry courier, one Zoid, combat grade, safe in the storage compartment," Razor said when they were all relatively close together.

"What kind of Zoid?" Wolf asked as he leaned against his König's massive silver claws.

"Not positive, Imperial built for sure, probably a Zaber or a Helcat," the blonde replied seriously, "We know it's fast and it's got a need to be hidden as much as possible, so I'd bet for Helcat."

"Thermal imaging in the open desert can be a little unreliable, the heat from the Zoid can be masked on top of that, let's hope we catch him with his camouflage off," Melody said with a slightly uneasy tone, "Why am I going? Tango or Lemur would be better backup in a fight."

"There won't be much of a fight, but the cover requires a female flyer, you're the only one of those we've got," Razor replied with a small chuckle, "You'll be the bait that makes him stop long enough for Wolf to get his shot."

"Telling me to crash my step father's Pteras?"

"No, worse than that in fact…I'm telling you to crash Tango's Redler."

"Imperial side of the border, and I'm in a König, you're not serious are you?"

"Unfortunately I am. I need a sniper on this job Wolf and no one else has a gun to cover a Helcat's radar range."

"Alright, but you're talking Tango into giving up his Zoid," Melody said with a more serious tone.

"He and Lemur both will get new ones if this job pays what it's supposed to," Razor replied with a chuckle, "I'll load the data to the Zoids and reload Wolf's ammo stores. Bomber, you'll fly empty, no sense in chancing a weapon's malfunction and more damage if all you're going to do is crash."

The König Wolf knelt down to let its pilot into the cockpit as Melody headed for the Redlers on the other side of the hanger. Wolf opened the ammo loading hatches and waited for the go while Melody and Tango went over the major differences in her Pteras and the Redler. Blaze was running around the König's feet as it went through self diagnostics and pawed the stone floor of the hanger.

"Blaze, get up here," the black haired young man said just as the loading was completed, Blaze floated up on a fan of red flames a moment later, "You can fuse up with the Redler, Right?"

*I can fuse with any Zoid, but the results may be different from when I fuse to the König,* Blaze replied as he hung just outside the cockpit.

"Do it, and pull her out, eject her or something so she doesn't get hurt in the crash."

*I'm sure Melody's reflexes are good enough to make a convincing play without her getting truly injured Wolf.*

"I'm sure they are, I still want you in that Redler for safety's sake."

*If she gets pissed off it's on you then,* Blaze growled with an 'I give up' sort of tone before he flew over and landed next to the Redler's cockpit.

A little less than a half hour later the König tore out into the open desert chasing after a bright red Redler with green wings. Melody had actually liked the idea of having Blaze as a safety net to the Organoid's surprise, when he'd fused with the Redler in the hanger nothing visibly changed, but the brown haired young woman could feel the differences as she played with the controls. She got pinned to her seat when Blaze took control and pushed it through a few maneuvers, showing off as much skill as Tango and Lemur.

"Alright Blaze back the throttle down, we're in Imperial territory and I need to get to my stand BEFORE you crash," Wolf said with a chuckle just before the Redler slowed down a bit.

"He wouldn't have crashed Wolf, he's a better pilot than I am," Melody said with a giggle as she re-took control of the Zoid.

"That's only because he's strapped right to the thing's brain," the black haired man replied with a shrug.

*I can hear you, you know that right?* Blaze growled through the private link to the König.

Wolf didn't reply at all since they were closing fast on where he thought would be the best spot for a sniper shot. The Redler climbed to two thousand feet before turning circles in the sky looking for their prey. Melody was playing around still getting used to things when Blaze alerted her to movement on the ground.

*Com signal matches, that's our prey, shall I scare you or can you act?* Blaze asked calmly from his place around the Redler's core.

"Scare me, if you can," Melody replied with a cold smirk just before the controls jerked out of her hands.

The Redler plunged straight down until at the last second Blaze managed to pull it out, skimming just inches off the sand. He then took the Zoid back up and started doing barrel rolls that had Melody screaming through Wolf's radio. The Organoid switched the radio over to the courier's frequency as he took an unstable but straight flight path.

"Mayday, mayday this is Redler five-two-three out of Guygalos, I've lost all control," Melody half shouted as the Redler went through another series of spins and loops, "Is anyone out there?!"

Wolf knew no answer would come unless it came from the courier since they'd tuned into his communications frequency for just that reason.

"This is courier five-baker-seven, I can see you over head, can you land?" a woman's voice broke the heavy silence in Wolf's cockpit as the black haired young man watched on.

"I don't think I'd want to try, something's wrong with the left wing, it's taking me all over the place," Melody replied with a shaky voice as the Redler started to spin towards the ground, "Oh shit! I've just lost all power to it!"

"Eject Redler five-two-three! EJECT!" the voice screamed.

Wolf watched as the Redler plunged for a few more agonizing seconds before the canopy flew off and the parachute opened. The Redler slammed hard into the ground right on the spot Wolf needed it to, he spotted the Helcat come over the dune a couple seconds later, and Melody hit the ground just as it came to a stop at the crash site. Blaze landed next to the König a moment later his head high and back straight.

*Never challenge an Organoid to a scare off,* he growled with one of his long hissing laughs.

"She won't make that mistake twice," Wolf chuckled as he spotted Melody on the ground, her face was ghostly pale and she looked like she might lose her last meal.

Wolf spotted his shot quickly once the courier was getting ready to run back to Guygalos for help. He squeezed off two shots, first taking out the com and then taking out one of the back legs of the Helcat, an easily fixed bit of damage so the courier wouldn't be totally stranded but it would force her to a slow limp at best. The woman was rendered unconscious by a sleeping gas grenade Melody had with her, the safe in the Zoid's storage compartment was moved to the König. Once they were well away from the sight Wolf decided it was a good time to radio in.

"Trazen Base this is Ghost, we've got our haul," the black haired young man said with a cool voice as Melody leaned out from behind him to see the screen.

"Ghost, well done, but turn towards Guygalos, you're getting those jewels fenced as fast as possible," Vailen's voice replied just before the screen showed his face, "You any good with locks Bomber?"

"I've picked a couple before, but nothing with a combination lock like this," Melody replied sounding a little worried again.

*I can handle the safe,* Blaze called from his favorite riding spot, on the König's back, right between the two front legs.

"Looks like Blaze is gonna be our locksmith, hope we don't have to save the safe," Wolf said with a chuckle as he turned the Zoid around.

It took them a couple days to get to Guygalos, Blaze had the safe open the first night after simply biting the hinges off and forcing the door open, bending the locking bars until the thing just fell away. Melody had taken to wearing a couple of the simpler pieces they'd found in it, but she knew she couldn't keep any of it since most of it was traceable. When they got to town Wolf sent Blaze and his König a good distance out and left Melody's hip radio in the cockpit so the Zoid could hear him call for it when they were ready to leave.

"I can't believe we jacked these jewels from a courier that just left here," Melody muttered as the pair made their way through one of the market places.

"Calm down, it's not like we're walking through town in Zoids, just keep a level head," Wolf whispered as he slid an arm around her shoulders and pointed at something, "Just blend in, like my sisters taught us right?"

The brown haired young woman took a calming breath and smiled at him, she didn't want to admit it, but his arm around her felt really nice.

"So let me ask you something, why did you look embarrassed coming into the hanger before we left on this shindig?" the blue eyed young man asked when he felt her relax, though her body immediately tensed with anger.

"Your damned Organoid," the hazel eyed young woman replied in an angry mutter, "Got to see what no one has seen since I've been able to bathe myself."

"You forgot he was in the room and stepped out of the bathroom naked huh?" the black haired young man chuckle.

Melody smacked him hard in the chest for laughing while turning a few shades of red as the embarrassment came back. Wolf went on to explain that Blaze would never be able to show anyone what he saw, nor would tell anyone since the Organoid knew a few things about keeping secrets.

They stopped a few times, Wolf buying a couple of oranges for them to snack on at one place, and a couple sandwiches as the day got later at another.

"Where is this guy's place?" Wolf asked as the pair walked down a back alley.

"It should be right here," Melody said looking at the map Vailen had sent them.

"Okay, let's try this door then," the black haired man said pointing towards a simple wooden door painted red.

He knocked twice, the door swung open immediately, and Wolf regretted knocking just as quickly. A man standing near twice his height with no hair stood in the doorway with a gun pointed at him. Wolf didn't flinch but he heard Melody shift a step back.

"You Razor's team?"

"Yup."

The man motioned them through the door and quickly shut it behind them; Melody set her bag down on the table and opened it before the man even asked. The jewels, according to the big man with the gun, were worth quite a bit but he'd need to get his expert in to check the total value. Wolf agreed to stay in town till the other man arrived, but the jewelry would stay with him and Melody until he did.

"You know Razor trusts me not to skip right?" the man said with a chuckle.

"He might, I don't," Wolf replied calmly as he picked the bag up.

"There's a hotel a block over, you can stay there for the night, my jeweler should be in by tomorrow morning."

Wolf simply nodded as he took Melody by the hand and led her out of the place. It took everything both of them had to keep from denying their cover story of a young couple on their honeymoon. Wolf made Melody take the bed and he slept on the couch until the next morning. They returned to the man with the gun, he seemed in a much friendlier mood as his jeweler told him how much the jewels were worth. Wolf managed to get a higher payout than even Razor expected because, despite still being several months shy of fifteen, he could be 'one scary asshole' as the jeweler put it. On their way out of town Wolf stopped in at a small licensing agency and got an Imperial courier's license and ID.

When they got back to the Trazen base after a week on the road, Razor told them to take a break in town for a few days to unwind after all the stress. Wolf and Melody spent nearly the whole time together, even sharing a hotel room, even though Wolf insisted on sleeping on the couch. Both their cuts from the job went to paying for Tango's new Redler so the rest of the money could go to the village.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Wolf was sitting in his König about a kilometer from the Trazen crew's delta site watching the sun set over the horizon in a wild show of purples and blues. He had come out here to think a bit and simply enjoy the quiet after such a hectic month. His black hair now fell to shoulder length since he'd not had time for a haircut since he'd joined the Trazen crew nearly five months before. He was also a little glad his mother couldn't see him, she'd hate that he'd let it get so long. The memories of his mother forcing him into the local barber shop in Fire Colony made him smile.

' _What I wouldn't give for that hard ass chair and that old man's cold hands right now,'_ the blue eyed young man thought with a chuckle.

Since the jewelry heist Wolf had run every law abiding job that had come the Trazen's way starting with a courier job that ran him from Guygalos all the way to New Helic City, where he also got a separate Republic courier's license while he was there.

The black haired young man laughed at the memory of the soldiers in New Helic City who thought he'd stolen his König Wolf from some military base. He'd proved them wrong when he showed them the computer details that showed just how old the Zoid really was, but they still insisted on inspecting for any stolen goods before letting him leave.

That job alone had taken him a little under three weeks, even with traveling through the night and eating on the run. During that same three weeks the rest of the Trazen crew had taken on protection work to offset the fact nothing worth stealing was coming close enough to home.

He'd been back less than two hours when Razor sent him and the rest of the Ghost Pack on a protection detail for a small village about four kilometers inside Imperial territory. The small village had only been able to pay half the price they promised, but Wolf made the call and Razor agreed to let them take the half pay for half scheduled time. After a week there with no sign of the other crew the Ghost Pack left with their pay.

"Ghost you on base or in the field?" Razor's voice cut through the silence the young man had sought out.

"One klick east of delta," Wolf replied with a tired tone as he let his head fall back against the head rest.

"Rodger that, need you back at alpha as soon as possible," the blonde said as his face popped up on the screen, "I know you're tired kid, last job this month for you, I swear it."

"Razor, I've been on since the heist, that was a month ago, let Hawk have this one, I'm dead," the black haired man replied seriously as he moved to face the screen.

"Every ground pilot we have is on for this one Ghost, so get back to base," Razor said with a little more force in his tone, "You'll get all of next month to yourself if we pull this off," he added with a chuckle.

"Rodger, on my way."

Wolf got to the base about an hour later, Blaze and Melody met him in the hanger. Blaze was more worried about why he'd been left; Melody wanted to be sure he was okay. Razor called everyone into the hanger, mechanics and flyers included, about ten minutes after Wolf got back.

"So what's this job?" Hawk, the only redheaded brick wall in the crew, asked as they gathered round Razor's Zaber Fang.

"We've been hired to jack a Whale King," Razor replied seriously causing a murmur to start up, "We're supposed to steal one, the client doesn't care what side it's from or where we get it, but the pay out on this job will easily hold the village and this crew up for a month solid."

"And what's the point if we all get wiped out?" Vanessa, a beautiful black haired woman and Razor's girlfriend, asked with an equally serious tone.

"Razor, I know we've pulled some serious miracles in our time, but this is crazy," Tango, a man with a deep tan and three red streaks running through the sides of his black hair, said with a rare serious tone.

"I know, but where I aim to get this thing, eight ground Zoids should be enough," Razor replied with a calm tone.

"You're going to hit the maintenance yards aren't you?" Wolf asked with a serious tone, "That's the only place that makes sense, less guards, less chance of full crews being on board, and open doors to everywhere."

"Nailed it in one Ghost."

"Still sounds crazy, what if you pick a bird with a full repair crew on board?" Sarah Beth asked with a deeply concerned tone that matched the look on her face.

"That's why we're taking Ghost, the thermals in his goggles should be able to show us which one is the coldest."

"Won't work boss, the thermals won't work through steaming hot metal, the repair yards are in an open desert remember?" Hawk said with a worried tone.

"I'm with Razor," Wolf said with a horse voice, "Only way we can pull this off is fast, we get in sight we find the first open hanger, clear the bird and take off."

The small crew erupted into a loud chaos of voices objecting to the young man's idea and calling him crazy. Wolf and Razor both stood there waiting for the crew to calm down. When they finally got tired of the shouting everyone stopped talking entirely.

"I realize what I just said was a bit off the deep end, but if it gets me some sleep, I'm all in," Wolf said with a chuckle.

"Well, if our brother's in, so are we," Luna said as she, Sarah Beth and Tammy moved next to Wolf.

"If I can't talk you out of it Razor, I'm in," Vanessa said with a shrug.

"Can't turn you down little brother," Vailen added to the growing list of fighters.

"Melody, Tango, Lemur, before you guys join in too, ground op only, no flyers," Razor said with a chuckle.

"Fine, I'm using my Rev Raptor then," Lemur replied with a tone that no one wanted to argue with, "You're not keeping me from this."

"Alright then," the blonde haired man replied with a somewhat bleary eyed smile, "Let's get moving then, I want full pay loads on all the Zoids, hook Wolf up with half and half incendiary and good old fashion ammo for a little havoc if we need it."

The mechanics went to work while everyone else went to work on figuring out how to steal a Whale King. After half a day of planning a group of eight Zoids headed for the maintenance yards just outside Dragon Head base on the Imperial side of the boarder.

They surveyed the area for about ten minutes to find any open hanger bays they could simply sneak into, they found only one. Everyone readied their guns, all hoped they wouldn't need them, before making the mad dash towards the perimeter fence. The König's radar showed them at two hundred and fifty feet from the open hanger bay when all hell started breaking loose.

The Whale King they were headed towards started closing its hanger bay 'mouth' and the engines began spooling up toward a low powered idle.

"Wolf, make the jump!" Razor shouted through the com.

"I can't, too far out," the black haired man replied with a hint of fear leaking into his tone as they continued to close the gap.

The engines on the Whale King finished their start up and immediately went wide open blasting the area around it with hurricane force winds, the Trazens were only a hundred feet away. The König and Razor's Zaber Fang were picked up and thrown backwards into Luna and Sarah Beth's Command Wolves, Lemur's Rev Raptor slammed hard into the side of a second close by Whale King. Wolf couldn't figure out what happened to Vailen, Vanessa or Tammy's Zoids before the König landed on its side screwing up the images from the goggles.

"Talk to me, who's out there?" Razor's voice broke through the static a few moments later.

"Ghost reporting in, I've got thermals on Ripper, looks like the Heldigunner dropped to its belly and rode it out," Wolf answered.

"Alpha here, I'm okay but I can't get my Zoid to her feet," Sarah Beth's voice came a moment later.

"Beta checking in, upside down but okay," Luna groaned a moment later.

"Omega and Lemur checking in, Omega's radio got a little scrambled but we're okay," Lemur's voice said with an equally strained tone.

The winds let up and everyone was able to get their Zoids back on their feet, Wolf was still using his thermals to see his way around because of the dust the Whale King had kicked up. He was belly crawling the König towards the Heldigunner when the screen turned completely white an instant before a shockwave picked the wolf up again, the whole cockpit went completely dark a split before the Zoid hit the ground sending Wolf crashing around his cockpit.

"Ghost, talk to me kid…Wolf are you alright?!" Razor's voice sounded frantic but Wolf was barely able to hear it.

"I'm okay," he said with a groan, "I feel like I got thrown off a roof, but I'm okay."

"Thank the gods," Razor's voice said with clear relief.

Wolf was looking around at blackness and realized his König had shut down completely and he was laid on his side. He started the restart sequence and hoped his friend would be the way she always was. As his brain started to become more aware of things, he realized Razor had called him through the hand held radio on his hip. It took a couple minutes for the screen to come back to life, what it showed him looked like a sand storm.

"I'm back online, switching to thermal imaging, no one move," Wolf said as he righted the König and switched the goggles on.

"Ripper you out there?" Razor's voice said, everyone could hear the panic behind the calm, "Ripper, send up a flare if you can hear but not talk back."

Wolf found everyone in the wall of dust; Vailen, Tammy and Lemur were next to the Whale King Lemur had been thrown against while Sarah Beth, Luna and Razor were tucked in under one of its wings. If the black haired man's compass was right, all he had to do was turn around to find Vanessa. When he did all he saw was a pile of debris and a crater.

"Holy gods," Wolf muttered as he laid eyes on what was left of a Heldigunner.

"Ghost, you got her? Is she okay?" Razor asked with a tone between panic and all out nervous breakdown.

"I got her Boss," the black haired man replied with a heavy heart, "What's left anyway."

The Whale King that had taken off finally left the area and the dust storm settled down quickly revealing the wreckage to everyone else.

"Guys we need to go…NOW!" Wolf half shouted as everyone started moving towards him, "Sarah Beth, Luna, Tammy, you guys grab what those Foxes of your can carry, Lemur, Vailen, help me tow the body."

Someone giving direct and easy to follow orders seemed to snap everyone into action. The sister's all grabbed a leg, Razor picked up part of the tail with his Zaber, and Lemur and Vailen hooked tow lines to the other three Zoids. It was slow going getting back to delta; Wolf had basically taken over the Trazen crew since everyone was in shock. Wolf had the pieces laid out in an open space and almost couldn't bear to look himself, but he knew he needed to find answers for Razor.

The Heldigunner's main weapon's mount had been shoved straight through its body by whatever had hit it, the three legs that remained however showed no signs of charring so Wolf knew it wasn't a direct hit. The most disturbing part was the head was completely gone and still showed little sign of being hit with a projectile round. The black haired young man climbed into his König and played back the images from after the Whale King left the area, there was no signs of broken glass or shrapnel on the ground close to the wreckage and no where around it either. He had been staring at the wreckage for nearly an hour without finding a single sign or clue as to what went on.

"What the hell happened out there Ripper?" The black haired man muttered as he looked over what was left of the Heldigunner's guns.

"Shouldn't talk to yourself, it's a pretty bad sign," Melody's voice replied from the hanger entrance, "Are you okay?"

"No."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"I should be asking you that question, you knew her better."

"I did, but you pretty much watched this happen," Melody replied gesturing towards the Heldigunner's remains.

"I was right there! I couldn't save her and I was right next to her!" Wolf half screamed, his voice cracking badly as his emotions finally took over and his eyes turned red, before he punched the Heldigunner's armor plating.

Melody reached up and took his hand in hers, kissed the already bruising knuckles before hugging him around the chest. She knew he was angry at himself and that there was nothing she could do but she held him anyway. Wolf eventually calmed down enough to realize Melody was crying into his chest so he wrapped his arms around her and held her close as well.

It took a few days for the initial shock of losing a teammate to wear off, but Wolf remained in the leading position after it had since Razor and Vailen were taking things a lot harder.

"Alright, look, I know I'm the last guy on and all, but here we are," Wolf said as the rest of the Trazen crew, minus Razor and Vailen, gathered around, "I've talked to the client, they're willing to pay us half for the fact we lost Ripper."

"Vanessa was worth over half!" Hawk shouted before the younger man could react, "Those assholes should have paid double!"

"Hawk, we didn't succeed, they didn't have to pay us at all," the black haired young man replied calmly, "I've already accepted their offer, Luna you're making the pickup, data is already in your fox, when she gets back, we go back to alpha site."

"What do we do when we get there?" Tammy asked seriously.

"For right now we take a few more days off, see if we can't get Razor or Vailen back in this. If we can't, Tango or Lemur can take over until we do."

"I think you need to keep it Wolf," Tango said with a sad tone, "Lemur and I may have been fourth and fifth in line, but we were also the fourth and fifth ones here, we knew Vanessa a lot of years."

"But you're still standing here, which tells me you can handle this."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with Tango," Melody said with a serious tone, "You're the only one here not crying themselves to sleep over this Wolf."

"Then you haven't been in this hanger the last couple nights," Wolf replied as he pulled off the thin black gloves he'd been wearing to reveal bruised and half scabbed over knuckles, "I've been beating metal trying not to cry at all, it hasn't worked."

"Wolf, you're the popular vote, if after a week at alpha site we can't get at least Vailen back in this, you're going to have to take it until they are," Sarah Beth said with a serious tone.

Wolf simply nodded and leaned against the Heldigunner's remains while everyone else left the hanger. He watched as Luna left to make the pickup a few minutes later before sliding down to a seated position, holding his head as he fought with another round of tears.

"They're right you know," Vailen's voice said from his left, "None of them would have thought to get money for not succeeding on a job in this state."

"Never know," Wolf replied as the knot in his throat started to come back, "Damnit, why the hell did I have to be the one coming back?"

"If it had been you, how many would miss you?"

"No one, my brother and mother would never find out, you don't know where I'm from, and you don't know my full name."

"What about Tango and Lemur? Your new sisters? Melody? And what of Blaze and your König standing over there? Wolf everyone has someone that would miss them, if it had been you, Razor still would have taken it hard."

"But not this hard, he just lost his wife for gods' sakes!" Wolf shouted angrily.

"When did you find out?" Vailen asked with a small chuckle.

"I've known ever since she told me she just followed Razor and you," the black haired man muttered, "Something in the way she said it. How long?"

"About four years now, how no one else figured it out is a shock to me," the older blonde said with a chuckle as he sat down next to Wolf, "Let's not let that cat out just yet okay?"

"You've got a deal if you're back in it before the end of the week," the blue eyed young man said with a chuckle of his own.

"I'll be back, but for now, you hang on to the title, it'll be good command experience for you. Set up the next job, I'll back you up if you need me."

The two men spent several minutes in silence before Wolf finally got up and left the hanger. He found Tango and Lemur in the small kitchen area with Sarah Beth and decided to join them for a few minutes.

"So is anyone else thinking something is screwed up about that wreck in the hanger?" he asked as he poured a cup of coffee.

"No weapons damage but it looks like it got squashed into the ground," Lemur replied quietly.

"Like someone dropped a massive weight on it and then took the cockpit off," Tango added with the same quiet tone, "What's your point Wolf?"

"That whoever was on that bird wanted us to think it was loaded but it wasn't," The black haired man replied, "My log shows a tight beam EMP hit the König right before she shut down."

"I don't understand, how is it possible for an electromagnetic pulse to be focused?" Sarah Beth asked plainly confused and curious to see where the conversation would go.

"Weapons developers come up with new shit every day, could be that bird was a test platform," Tango said with a shrug, "Where's this going Wolf?"

"I'm saying I think Vanessa is now a prisoner," the youngest man said with a serious tone, "No way they could have seen us coming, but here we are."

"I wouldn't tell Razor about this little theory of yours, he'd want to break into every prison this side of the planet just to find her," Lemur replied calmly, "But it does give us something to hope for, so thank you for that."

"I don't aim to tell anyone else than those in this room," Wolf said with a serious tone as he looked at the two cousins, "Let's keep this among ourselves until we have solid proof."

"You sent Luna out there, are you sure that was wise?" Sarah Beth asked with a worried glance out to the hanger.

"Yeah, when I told our client what had happened he cried his apologies, probably some rich brat thought he deserved a better Zoid than mommy and daddy wanted to give him."

Blaze stepped in just as the other three were heading for their own beds, his smoke gray eyes shining in the low lighting of the small room.

*I think we should go,* the red and black Organoid said without hesitation.

"Go where? We've been away from home barely five months, I've not learned everything I can, I'm not old enough to join up yet, and I find myself falling deeply for Melody," Wolf replied with an ice cold tone, "Plus after losing Vanessa they could use the help."

*Wolf a woman DIED fighting to steal a Whale King for these people!*

"I SAID NO!" the black haired man shouted, his eyes turning a molten red almost instantly, "They need help here, I'm not leaving this crew until I know they can replace me."

*Wolf, you can't expect me not to argue this! You're starting to sound like one of them instead of the kid who grew up beside me!*

"This village needs help, I can still learn from the people in this crew, it is more advantageous for me to stay."

*Wolf you know I wouldn't leave without you, but I still disagree with the call you're making.*

Luna got back two days later and the Trazen crew packed up delta sight and headed back to their main base, Razor running pretty much on auto pilot the whole way. Once they were back at the main base Razor slid out of the hanger unnoticed while everyone else unloaded and locked the door to the room he'd shared with Vanessa. Everyone knew where to find the blonde haired man, but no one tried to talk to him except to bring dinner later that night.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

In the week that followed the crew's return to their main base after Vanessa's disappearance, Hawk completely dropped off the face of the planet and not even the villagers knew where he might be. Wolf set up a short term protection detail to get the crew some spending money and was forced to take Tango in a Command Wolf rather than the Dark Horn Hawk piloted. When they came back, well paid for their success in driving off the other bandits, Hawk was in the cockpit of his Zoid looking as though he'd just come back in.

"Vailen you in the com room?" Wolf asked using his hand held.

"Yeah, what's up?" the older man asked with a confused tone, "Why are we on hand helds?"

"Wanted to know when Hawk got back is all," the black haired young man asked as the König started up its cooling fan.

"About five minutes ago, I left chewing him out for you, you're the big gun right now," Vailen replied with a chuckle.

Wolf rolled his eyes but couldn't quite stop the smile that formed momentarily on his lips before he jumped from the cockpit of his Zoid. Everyone stopped, even Melody who was coming to greet the arriving bunch, when they saw the black haired fifteen year old walking towards Hawk's Dark Horn.

"Hawk, you busy big man?" Wolf called up to the Dark Horn's open cockpit.

"Nope, just finishing shut downs," Hawk replied a few moments before he jumped to the ground for the cockpit.

"Wanna explain why we couldn't get a hold of you when I could have really used this Horn of yours?"

"Nope, just take it as wanting to grieve in peace," the red haired man replied somberly, "Needed to get away from it all for a while."

"I'll live with that answer then," the black haired man replied seriously, "But you're on for next run."

Hawk nodded and walked out without another word, his head held a little lower than normal as he headed for the barracks hall. Everyone was kind of surprised to see it hadn't exploded into a full on fist fight given the two men's dislike for one another, but Wolf was glad it hadn't. Melody ran over and didn't bother slowing down before she jumped into his chest nearly putting them both on the floor and the slightly younger man laughed.

"Okay I get it, you missed me," Wolf said with a chuckle as she tried to squeeze the air out of his lungs.

"We heard there was fighting near the village you guys were in, major military fighting," the brown haired young woman said as she loosened her grip.

"We didn't see any of it, the crew we were up against was a little feisty but we're fine," the black haired young man replied with a soothing tone.

As Wolf stared into Melody's bright hazel eyes he forgot they were standing in the hanger for a moment and leaned in and kissed her. It was no more than a gentle peck on the lips but Melody felt herself go slightly light headed as she leaned forward as he tried to pull back. Less than five seconds and Wolf managed to remember where he was enough to pull away, despite not wanting to. Melody's questioning stare looking back at him made his heart jump before he turned away towards everyone else staring at them, mostly slack jawed. The brown haired young woman turned red with embarrassment and buried her face in Wolf's shoulder to hide it.

"Well I guess that secret's out too," Tango said with a chuckle as he walked towards the pair, "Congrats, and you little lady, be gentle with our fearless, if temporary, leader, he's injured."

The angry glare that crossed Wolf's face was enough to tell the fifteen year old woman what her crewmate had said was true. She immediately looked him over and noticed that his whole right arm seemed bigger than his left so she grabbed his sleeve. The wince that crossed his face and the low growl that came from Wolf's throat made everyone look towards the pair a little more intently.

"Gently would you, it's nothing much but it's still tender," the black haired man said once the quick stab of pain subsided.

"What happened?" Melody asked seriously as she rolled the sleeve up a little more gently.

"Side panel in the König blew out during the fight, small scratches, just a lot of them," Wolf replied seriously, "No big deal, not like I haven't had worse," he added with a smile as he scratched the scar under his right eye.

The slightly bloody bandages were wrapped like a true doctor would have done it, making it all the easier for Melody to take them off. Wolf grew slightly uncomfortable when she showed no signs of stopping despite still being in the hanger so he pulled his arm away gently and sat down on the Dark Horn's massive foot.

"If you'd rather I don't look, just say so," Melody said looking at his half unwrapped arm and the exposed cuts from shattered computer screens.

"You can look all you like if you're that worried about it, I just got tired of standing," Wolf replied with a chuckle as he held his arm back out to her.

"You kissed me," she said quietly as she finished unwrapping his arm exposing one cut with a couple stitches.

"And you kissed me back. I was not expecting that."

"You weren't expecting to kiss me at all I bet. What's with the stitches?"

"Bigger chunk of glass and I really wasn't but hey, it was nice."

"Get to the med room, we'll put some antiseptic on it and re-wrap it with clean bandages," Melody replied as her face turned a few shades redder just before she half ran out of the hanger.

"She likes you Wolf, don't blow it," Razor's voice came from behind the younger man making him jump.

A few whoops came from across the hanger as Tango and Lemur spotted the boss of the Trazen crew. It took a few minutes of quick hugs and a few more whoops from Tango and Lemur before Razor could move without stepping on someone's foot, but he eventually made his way to where Wolf sat. The man's short blonde hair was disheveled and his beard had grown in a bit over two weeks, but the sadness showed still in his face and deep green eyes.

"Welcome back to the game Boss," the black haired young man said as he pulled his sleeve down.

"I'm not back, not completely," Razor replied seriously, "But I'm getting there, it's rough losing a wife you know."

The nearby crew members stopped cold and stared at the pair sitting on the Dark Horn's foot, Wolf simply gave a shallow nod in response.

"How is it the new guy is the only one who knew?" the blonde haired man said with a short chuckle as his crew stared at him.

"Because I didn't tell them little brother, Wolf guessed," Vailen replied with a chuckle of his own, "Good to see you made it out of your room today."

"Good to be out, if only for a while," Razor replied with a smile that didn't quite make it to his eyes, "So you let the Ghost be in charge? Should I leave him there?"

"If you're not up for it Razor, I'll hang on to it for a while longer, but only if you make the deal Vailen did," Wolf said with a serious tone.

"What deal is that?"

"That you're back before the end of the week now that we've seen your face for the first time in one," Tango replied with a laugh.

"Hey, it snapped me out of it some," Vailen said when his brother looked at him funny, "I'm still not in charge after all."

"You've got a deal Wolf, that means you get to set one more job," Razor said clapping the younger man on the shoulder before he stood up and walked back out of the hanger.

Wolf stared after the older man with a small smile forming on his lips seeing that the Trazen crew was already starting to get back to some semblance of normal. It took a quick tap on the shoulder from Tango to make him remember he had to get his arm re-wrapped and that Melody was waiting for him.

"Tango, can you handle the rest of the unloading? I got a lady waiting to fix my arm," Wolf asked as he climbed off the Dark Horn and headed towards the med-room.

"I got it Ghost, go get some kissin' out of the way," the well tanned man replied with a wide smile.

Wolf practically ran through the cavernous halls of the base towards the med-room, partly because he wanted Melody to know about Razor, partly because a few of the cuts on his arm started to seep a little, and still further so he might get that next kiss. When he got there Razor was already there and practically having the air squeezed from his chest just like Wolf had in the hanger.

"Melody, Boss Man's turning a little blue, wanna let him go?" The black haired man said with a chuckle despite the pang of unfounded jealousy he felt.

"Just came in for some pain killers, now I have a better reason," Razor said with a smile as Melody let go of him, "Look a little beat up there yourself Wolf, what happened?"

"Console in the König blew out in a fight, Blaze is already working on it, caught some glass is all," Wolf shrugged as he sat down on the small cot along the side of the room, "Doc here says it needed to be cleaned and redone so here I am," he added with a chuckle.

"It takes a pretty big hit to blow those consoles, what was in this fight?" the older blonde asked as Melody went to work on his younger crewman's arm.

"Couple beam gats like yours, my sniper rifles, one big one we pulled off yours and strapped to Tango's, couple Molgas on top," the younger man said with a smile, "Sorry about the gun, needed the fire power."

"As long as I get it back we'll be fine. What was the detail on our side?"

"Ghost Pack, Tango and Lemur, tried to get Hawk but he vanished all of last week."

"He's back now?"

"Yup, and knows he's on for next duty so it's probably gonna be convoy cover if I can find something. Those twin Gatling guns of his are handy for that kind of thing."

Razor remained silent till Melody finished and left to clean the antiseptic off her hands.

"So who hit you in the cockpit to make that screen blow?" the blonde asked quietly when he was sure she wasn't coming back.

"Red Horn with that big beam gun, damn near hit the emergency open on the ear," Wolf replied quietly as he watched around the corner for Melody, "We didn't take much of a hit, but that asshole put out a lot of cover fire."

"You win?"

"I'm here ain't I?"

Wolf's grin grew a little when Melody came back in the room, she couldn't help the small smile that came to her lips before it vanished. The brown haired young woman handed Razor his pain killers and he just smiled and nudged her in Wolf's direction.

"Make sure she's on the next detail Boss, and me too," the blonde haired man said before he stepped out of the room.

"Made the same deal as Vailen huh?" Melody asked as she started to wrap Wolf's arm.

"Yup, now we've got to figure what the next detail is," Wolf replied with a worried tone as he leaned back against the stone wall letting her finish his arm.

"You won't get that done down here," the brown haired woman said with a small smile as she sat down next to him, "But I wouldn't mind another kiss," she whispered in his ear.

Wolf smiled and gave her another gentle but longer peck than in the hanger before he pulled away, almost hating himself for having to leave. It wasn't ten minutes later that the call went through the entire base for everyone to get to the communications room.

"Alright, we're all here, so I may as well put it simple, we're behind schedule but we've got a job to do," Wolf said as he leaned across the massive table as the team filed in, "Courier leaves Guygalos in two days, which means we've got one to get there and get briefed."

"We hitting it or protecting it?" Hawk asked seriously as he took his usual seat.

"Protection detail this time," Vailen replied in Wolf's place, "Big convoy, we've got three other details in with us."

"Whose primary then?" Melody asked as she sat down next to Wolf.

"We are since we've got the flyers for air cover," the black haired man replied, "We can do the rest of this in route, load up."

The team scattered and headed for the hanger bay, Razor headed straight for his Zaber without hesitation, the crew was well on their way less than an hour later. While they were moving Vailen filled the crew in on the major details and the negotiated payment for the job, one that impressed even Hawk. It was nearly midnight when they arrived at the gates of their pick up point, the guard let them in when he confirmed Wolf's courier ID number and guided them to a place to park their Zoids.

"I'm staying with my König tonight, I can feel it in her controls that she's nervous," Wolf said through an open com to the Trazen crew.

"Yeah, I would be too, but what about that briefing in the morning?" Tango asked as he walked his Redler to a spot.

"I'll handle that when it comes up, for now I can sleep here. Besides I kinda like it, free wake up call."

The König Wolf let out a low growl as Blaze flew up and landed in his little spot at the base of its neck between the front two legs. Wolf could feel the massive Zoid shift its weight around as the black and red Organoid settled into a comfortable spot.

"Blaze one of these days she's gonna learn how to scratch you off of there," Wolf said as he popped the cockpit open for a little fresh air.

*If she does, I'll just learn to hang on better,* Blaze growled back with a hissed laugh before he curled up and went to sleep himself.

It was only five hours later that the convoy boss rang the alarm that had every guard in the hanger, nearly fifty men and women, on their feet with guns drawn, but everyone stopped to cover their ears when the König Wolf in the corner let out a window rattling howl. Wolf jumped down from the cockpit a moment later and walked to the convoy boss, a stocky grey haired man with a lab coat, the whole of the Trazen's piloting crew falling in step right behind him, Blaze rounding out the pack with Tyrant.

"You've got the floor convoy boss," Wolf said as all the other guards eventually gathered round.

"Right, which of you is supposed to be the leading crew?" the gray haired man asked as he looked to everyone.

"That would be us, we're running the flyers, two Redlers and a Pteras," Vailen replied politely, "Currently the leading man is standing right in front of you," he added pointing towards Wolf.

"Okay then, I want your team leading the convoy by two kilometers, checking the route for sleepers and possible pirates," the stocky man said looking Wolf in the eye this time, "The rest will surround the five Gustavs that will be our convoy."

"No," Wolf said with a cold calm, "I've only got ten pilots besides myself, three of which will be in the air, I'll pull three pilots from these guys and leave the air support with you, that way if we get tied up they'll see it and call you to a stop until we're either untied or they have to come save our cans."

"I'll live with that, but I'd like to maintain the two kilometers, can your birds see that far?"

"Yes, we've done some work on them for just this type of job," Razor replied with the same dead calm as Wolf.

"Pull your three then, you've got one hour till the convoy leaves this base."

Wolf looked at the Zoids in the hanger, he'd never seen such a patchwork crew in his life, Republic Command Wolves and Guysacks sitting alongside Imperial Dark Horns and Rev Raptors not a single one painted in military colors. He spotted three identical Dibisons standing together near the main door.

"Who owns the bulls?" He half shouted with a lopsided grin.

"That would be us," a tall fellow with bright orange hair said with a cocky smile, "You want us?" he asked with a gesture to the two men flanking him.

"You've got the firepower I'd want going against sleepers, you don't have to like me, but right now I'm your boss boys. Load up Trazens!"

Razor, Vailen, Hawk, Tammy, Sarah Beth and Luna gunned for their Zoids and had them powered up before the Dibison pilots could get to their cockpits. Wolf was last out of the hanger since he had to get the route map from the convoy boss and retransmit that to his people and the Dibison pilots. It didn't take them half what the convoy boss had given them to clear two klicks of terrain.

"I heard Trazen back there right?" the orange haired Dibison pilot asked through an open com as they waited for the convoy boss' call.

"You did indeed, is that a problem?" Wolf asked as his concentration turned his eyes red.

"Just wondering what a typically Republic crew is doing in Imperial territory at all, much less running block for them."

"We run all kinds of jobs, I've got courier licenses in both territories," the black haired young man replied before slamming the com unit off, "Blaze, run a check on these three if you can."

*I'll do my best,* Blaze growled before launching into the König's core and taking over the computer search functions.

Wolf hit the switch to turn the com unit back on about ten minutes before the convoy boss checked in and told them they were on the move. The black haired man deployed the Dibisons to lead the group so he could keep an eye on them and to put the biggest number of guns out front.

"Ghost, you trust these three to lead?" Vailen asked through a private link between his jade green Zaber Fang and the König Wolf.

"Nope, that's why they're up there, so we can shoot first if it comes to that," Wolf replied seriously as he watched a few faces flash across one of the side screens as Blaze did his search.

*I'm working as fast as I can but so far I'm not coming up with anything, the Dibison is too new to be out to the public so I'm checking base listings through some of the redundancy networks,* Blaze growled from his place in the core.

"I get it, prime the shots while you're at it, I want guns loaded," Wolf replied before flipping the switches to put the König's goggles and rifles down.

"What's going on back there? We just got a weapons threat from one of you guys," the orange haired pilot asked with a worried tone.

"Just checking further up, guns and goggles are down, might ought side step a touch to your left," the black haired man replied with an easy tone, "Let's go weapons hot everyone, I've got a bad feeling."

The group had been slowly trudging along maintaining their assigned two kilometer lead for nearly three hours before anything really came up. The König's goggles provided enough of a thermal reading to see the Guysacks buried in the sand about one klick ahead.

"Sleepers up ahead, Guysacks appear to be all there is," Wolf said with a calm tone, "Dibisons lock these coordinates: mark zero-two-five by eighteen."

"Rodger that, coordinates locked, ready to give them a twenty one gun salute, three times over," the orange haired pilot replied with a chuckle.

"Hold fire, Razor, Vailen side line same coordinates, pop off any stragglers."

"You got it Boss," Vailen replied as he stepped up next to the Dibison to the far left, Razor taking up post on the other end of the line.

Wolf called the convoy up and had them hold up before giving the fire order. The Dibison crew only missed two targets and Razor mowed them down with his beam Gatling gun before Vailen could get a clear shot. Wolf moved alone to the newly made Zoid graveyard and checked for anything further up before calling the convoy and telling them to come on up. Blaze's search eventually turned up that the three Dibison pilots in front of the crew had simply stolen the massive bull type Zoids from a prison guard station.

Every day of the five day trip had something; sleeper battalions, raiders looking to make a profit and even one or two travelers just looking to mooch food off the massive convoy. When the pilots of the Trazen crew saw that they were headed for the maintenance yards for the Whale Kings it took everything they had to keep Razor from turning tale and heading straight to delta base, where Vanessa's trashed Heldigunner was still laid out on the hanger floor. Wolf made a mental note to check out why he hadn't been told the final destination before they moved out.

"Well, we made it, and the most of us never saw any fighting at all thanks to the advance team," the convoy boss said with a cheerful tone, "And as such your contracts are complete, you may go your own ways from here."

"And our pay?" the orange haired Dibison pilot asked seriously as he leaned against his Zoid's hoof.

"The advance team is supposed to get a bonus, these guys earned their part of it," Vailen added diplomatically, "And we haven't seen the payoff much less our bonus."

Wolf could hear a few people unsnapping holsters and swinging rifles up to ready positions behind him. He found Melody just beside the Zoids and motioned for her to get in her cockpit. She nodded and started climbing the short rope ladder and was out of sight and safe so he could think clearly again.

"Mister, I don't care who you think you're working with here," Wolf said calmly as he moved to the front of the group, "But I don't take kindly to getting shot at for someone else's property, and not getting paid for it."

"You've got about fifty guns pointed at you right now, all we have to do is move," the orange haired pilot said making Wolf like him just a little bit more.

"Fine, you want money from the Empire that badly, the pay man is in the fifth trailer," the stocky man said with a grin, "Go get it."

Wolf could guess by the disgusted look on the old man's face he was expecting these 'mercenaries and bandits' to beat each other to death over the payroll. Even he was laughing when the crews simply molded back into their original numbers and each sent a representative to collect their cut. Wolf collected the Trazen's cut and the bonus, splitting it fair with the Dibision pilots as promised, before heading back towards the convoy boss.

"See, this is what happens when you hire real guardsmen," he said with a gesture towards the three other groups brought in on the job.

The black haired young man didn't even give the man a chance to reply before he walked away and climbed into his König Wolf. The Trazen crew was one of the first to leave with their pay while everyone else went ahead and divided it up at the maintenance grounds.

Wolf and Vailen made the call to hit delta site before they went home, to divide the money and maybe get a little peace for Razor. Only Wolf, Razor, Vailen and Melody went inside the delta hanger when they got there, the rest of the crew agreed to stay topside either till the others called them down, or were ready to leave. No one tried to say any comforting words to the emerald green eyed man as he knelt next to what used to be Vanessa's Heldigunner.

"I'll miss you Vanessa, and love you always," Razor whispered towards the dead hulk of the Zoid as he stood and wiped his tears away.

"Razor, I don't like being the one to tell you this, but the blast that picked up and threw the König that night was an EMP," Wolf said with a reverent tone, "Even if it hit the Heldigunner dead on it wouldn't have done this kind of damage."

"Can you tell me what did?" the blonde asked as he ran his fingers along the stubble on his cheek.

"No, but this thing looks like it was crushed, not shot," the black haired young man replied somberly, "If it's any help at all, whatever the hell it was, Vanessa didn't suffer."

"It's not, but thanks for trying kid," Razor replied with a very short chuckle as he walked back towards his Zaber Fang, "I'm back in the saddle as per our deal Wolf, you've done good by this crew, now take some time for yourself."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Wolf could only handle a week to himself in the Trazen's home village before he went stir crazy looking for something to do so he headed over to Trisdale for a haircut and just to look around for a day. When he got back Melody had been sent as air support for a Whale King with Tango and Lemur two days after they'd gotten back from delta. Wolf's sisters were running block for a ground job too so he couldn't even train like he really wanted to. So after a long week off Wolf managed to talk Razor into letting him take a courier job he'd seen posted in Trisdale.

It took five days just to get to the pick up place, a Redler factory outside Guygalos, but he landed the job because he could legally claim clearance to carry Top Secret materials. Melody managed to make contact with him a day into his trip, she'd be waiting at the drop off point for him since he was headed straight for where her Whale King escort was heading. Wolf pushed the König to its top speed and managed to cut what was supposed to be a four day trip into three by running through the night and sleeping in his cockpit.

"What kept you?" Melody asked as the black haired young man jumped out from his cockpit.

"Desert heat and as you can see, no Blaze," Wolf replied with a chuckle, "He stayed on base in case you came back, to tell you where I headed."

"Razor caught us up about an hour before we landed; Tango and Lemur have already headed back to alpha," the brown haired young woman said before she hugged him, "He said I could wait around."

"Well I still have to deliver my goods, and you need to stay out here with the Zoids for a minute," the blue eyed young man said as he pushed her back.

The black haired young man retrieved the case he'd been given at the Zoid factory he'd come from in Guygalos and headed into the base. As he walked the halls he could feel a pair of eyes following him through every turn, he knew he couldn't blend into the crowd like in the villages and towns he'd visited so he stopped.

"Who are you?" he asked without turning to face whoever was behind him.

"Just making sure you don't go anywhere you're not supposed to," a deep voice replied with a light tone.

Wolf turned to face a man dressed in an Imperial Colonel's uniform with blonde hair and sea green eyes. He could tell the man was a fighter because of the gold fridges on his shoulder bars and the hat he wore low on his brow.

"Colonel Shubaltz, I believe I'm supposed to be delivering this case to you as the base commander," Wolf said with a smile, "By the way your technique in following people unnoticed could use a little work."

"I'm sure, it's been a long time since I've tried," the Colonel replied while signing the confirmation receipt for the case, "You cleared to see what's in that case?"

"My clearance runs just a little above what this is rated sir, is there a problem?"

"None that I'm aware of Courier Alpha-Charlie-two-two-five, would you like to see it?"

"As much as I'd like to Colonel; that would go against MY rule book," Wolf laughed, "Never look at Top Secret, it might make me paranoid."

Colonel Shubaltz took the case with a short chuckle and walked away without further word. Wolf walked out of the base with a small smile on his face, when he came into the hanger he saw his König on its belly in front of Melody. The massive wolf had its head cocked to the side a little bit as though listening to the brown haired woman tell a story.

' _Blaze would have loved this,'_ the black haired man thought as he watched for a minute or two.

He could hear the Zoid making quite growling noises and slightly louder yips as Melody continued to tell whatever story she was telling. A few of the enlisted personnel asked him what was going on and why he hadn't left with the guard lady yet, his only response was 'its story time'. When he finally got the nerve up to interrupt and let both the König and Melody know it was time to go, he walked over and gave the Zoid a pat on the nose and gave a quick nod towards the door. It should have taken them two days to get back to alpha site, but the pair stopped enough times to make it a three and a half day trip back.

"Wolf you've got two days down time, Melody you're off the roster for the rest of this month," Razor said through an open video link as the pair came down the hanger entrance tunnel.

"Well I find that unfair, I was supposed to be off two weeks, I was only off one," Wolf replied with a quiet chuckle despite the statement being true.

"You were the one who took that courier job when you didn't have to," the blonde replied with a lopsided grin.

"What's the new job?"

"Protection detail on a village four days east of here for three weeks. The last guys they hired got pounded; I'll brief everyone going in the morning."

"Rodger that," Wolf said as the König stepped into the hanger and let out a few yips drawing the attention of the three fox themed Command Wolves that belonged to Tammy, Sarah Beth and Luna.

The next morning Wolf met with Tango and Hawk for the briefing about their next guard duty. It was a pretty short briefing, a pair of Zoids was hitting a well off town and kidnapping people for ransom and the townsfolk wanted some help until the military arrived to take them out permanently. Razor figured that having three Zoids with a lot of firepower between them would be enough so Tango was getting Razor's big beam cannon back for his Command Wolf.

When the three were about to leave Melody flew into the hanger and nearly tackled Wolf in a hug, kissing him multiple times before letting go. He gave her one gentle kiss back and climbed into the König's cockpit to lead Hawk's Dark Horn and Tango's Command Wolf out of the base. The travel time and first week of their paid stay at the town were quiet, Wolf and Hawk didn't fight over who went where since Tango seemed to take the lead to keep that from happening.

"You know, this is getting boring just standing around and doing nothing," Tango said with a laugh about three days into their second week.

"Well get over here to my position, both of you, I've got five just into radar range," Hawk said with a serious tone.

The König was beside the Dark Horn with its goggles and rifles down and aimed towards the targets coming their way before Hawk finished, the Command Wolf showed up a split second later.

"We've got two Command Wolf AC types, those would be our typical two, a Gordos carrying heavy cannons, a Shield Liger. Guysack leading the pack and headed in fast," Wolf said with a serious tone, "We're in for a fight we might not be able to handle here boys, you up for it?"

"We're in," Hawk said with an almost evil smirk.

The Guysack headed straight towards the black on red König Wolf its tail gun firing like crazy, the rounds bounced off the armor of the Zoid like it wasn't even bothering it. Before Wolf could react to the whole thing the Guysack's pilot had hidden his cockpit under his Zoid. Hawk and Tango started laughing when the massive wolf slammed its right paw down on the Guysack's front most leg and then slammed its left paw down on another of its legs. The König then started bouncing both of its front paws off the back of the scorpion type Zoid and kept doing so until it stopped moving.

"I don't know that it was the greatest tactic Ghost, but it worked," Hawk laughed as he took aim at the Gordos just coming over the ridge.

"Hey, my baby hates bugs," Wolf laughed as he moved off towards the attacking Command Wolves.

The fight escalated quickly as the other Zoids of the crew came over the ridge so Wolf, Hawk and Tango moved away from the village and took the fight to them. Wolf slammed head long into the two Command Wolves knocking them to the ground slowing just long enough to hear them hit. This also gave one of them a shot that sent the König tumbling as Wolf got slammed against his restraints.

"Oh that's gonna hurt later," the black haired man groaned as he righted his Zoid, his eyes turning bright red over being shot in the back.

"Get back in it Wolf!" Tango yelled as he grappled with the Shield Liger.

The black Command Wolf was going strike for strike with whoever was piloting the white shield liger and had already ejected the heavy beam cannon he'd been carrying. The less maneuverable Zoids, the Dark Horn and the Gordos, were going shot for shot until one grazed the Horn's cockpit.

"HAWK!" Wolf shouted just before he and the König got tackled by the two Command Wolves.

"Ghost, you good?" Tango shouted just as the Shield Liger went down for the count after being thrown into a close by rock wall by the Command Wolf.

"I'm fine, just trying to get these folk off me!" the black haired young man shouted as he pulled the controls.

The König threw the two Command Wolves off, managing to take the neck of one and slam it to the ground. The second Command Wolf took advantage and shoulder shoved the König hard enough to slam Wolf's head into the side of his cockpit and knock him unconscious. Hawk saw the massive wolf go down hard and he opened up with the his Gatling guns, taking the cockpit of the Gordos apart before he swung for the Command Wolf that was still standing. It took his and Tango's reflexes less than a split second to realize the thing was just standing there, its head down and the weapons were cold.

"Hawk, its dead, you check Wolf, the townsfolk are coming to look, I'll handle them," Tango said with a shaky calm, "HAWK, GO!"

The redheaded man snapped out of his trance and raced over to the downed König, he found the emergency open but the cockpit opened on its own as the wolf let out a low pained growl.

"Damnit, he just had to leave Blaze with the girl this trip," Hawk muttered as he maneuvered his way into a comfortable way to check the young man over, "Tango get a doc out here, Ghost is out cold, looks like he got slammed around in here pretty good," he said through his handheld radio.

The König nearly flung Hawk out of the cockpit as it stood up and limped towards the town but the redhead managed to hang on. Tango cleared a way through the townspeople and was getting ready to call the doctor when the König collapsed in the main thoroughfare, this time throwing Hawk clear before she hit the ground.

"Looks like we'll need a mechanic too," Tango shouted as he jumped down from his own cockpit and made a rush for the Zoid's cockpit.

"The doctor is on his way young man, I'm the local mechanic," a man said with a small smile as he approached the König which let out a loud threatening growl before the man could touch her.

"I think you better let us handle it, she's not particularly friendly with new people," Hawk said as he held Wolf up so Tango could get him unstrapped with less of a fight in the sideways cockpit.

"He's not dead, but he's definitely gonna be hurting for the next few days," Tango said as he caught the younger man. The two men got the black haired young man to the ground without hurting him further and started looking closer for less obvious injuries.

"Doctor's here, let him look," the mechanic said as he pulled Tango away.

The older man of the locals knelt down and started checking Wolf over, Hawk couldn't help but think that if he and Tango weren't standing between them the König would have tried to hurt the old doctor for going near it's pilot.

"He's stable, we can take him to my office and get some x-rays to be sure but it looks like minor injuries," the doctor said calmly, "Help me carry him," he said with a pointed stare at Hawk and Tango.

It didn't take them long to get to the doctor's office, Hawk laid his crewmate on the bed and stepped back.

"Hawk, go take care of the Zoids, I've got this," Tango said in a low tone as he laid a hand on the redhead's shoulder.

"Tango, I killed a man today," Hawk muttered as the doctor did his work with Wolf, "The Gordos pilot can't possibly have lived through the ammo I pumped into that cockpit."

"I know, go take care of the Zoids, see if you can't get those other pilots out of their Zoids and into the local jailhouse."

Hawk left the small office and headed back towards the outskirts, when he got there the König was still lying in the street and both Command Wolves were still stone cold statues.

"We've retrieved the pilots from the Shield Liger and the Guysack, Protector, but the Command Wolves won't open and we've only found remains in the Gordos, and your friend's König Wolf simply won't let anyone near it," someone from the small crowd around the Zoid informed him.

"I'll have a chat with her, she'll be off your road any minute," Hawk replied as he stepped towards the massive wolf lying in the street, "Alright big girl, I know you're hurting, but you can't lie here all day, can't stay in these nice folks way after all."

The König Wolf simply growled back at him as he stepped close enough not to be heard by anyone else.

"Come on darling, Wolf is just fine, doc said so himself right in front of you, what's wrong?"

A message flashed onto the screen, short and pretty simple, 'A Bond Born of a Child's Wish'.

"You're hurt because he's hurt aren't you?" Hawk asked with an astounded whisper.

'Yes' flashed across another screen just before the König seemed to force herself to her feet and limped out into the sand surrounding the village before she fell again. Hawk followed it and walked back over to the now closed cockpit and placed a hand on her massive head.

"Can you eject the Command Wolf pilots?" he asked quietly before he jerked his hand off the warm metal and walked away, "Look at me, talking to a Zoid like it's a real animal," the redhead said to himself.

The Command Wolf cockpits popped open and the pilots climbed out of their own free will, probably scared that their Zoids had totally shut down and locked them in. Tango walked up as the two pilots were walked towards the jailhouse by a couple of the locals.

"Wolf's fine, lot of broken ribs but nothing punctured or completely irreparable," the well tanned man said with a small smile, "How you holding up Hawk?"

"Thinking I'm losing it with guilt, talking to Wolf's Zoid like it has a personality, other than that I'm just fine," Hawk answered with a forced smile.

"You didn't have a choice Hawk, he hit your canopy you fired back without aiming," Tango replied as he laid a hand on the other man's shoulder.

"I did aim Tango, I aimed right for his face," the redhead said with a shaky tone as he fought with the guilt, "I killed him without hesitating."

Tango stood by his crewmate in silence as he thought about what could be said, in the end even he couldn't come up with a joke to help, he was also a little blocked by the sharp pain starting up in his wrist. It took a few hours for Wolf to wake up, the doctor advised staying in bed for at least a day so his body could get used to the pain. Wolf didn't listen and was out of bed and back with his König before he'd been awake for an entire hour. The König to Hawk's great surprise was up and pacing the village outskirts when he and Tango saw her next. Tango was wearing a fresh compression bandage on his wrist because of a hair line fracture he'd gotten in the fight against the Shield Liger and the adrenaline had masked the pain for a while.

"It's all okay sweetie, I'm okay," Wolf said with a soothing tone and a warm smile as he looked over his Zoid, "We'll get you back to normal in no time."

"Wolf what is with that thing?" Tango asked, "Just a few hours ago she could hardly walk, now she's up and walking without the limp we saw earlier."

"Because I've been with her for so long if I'm hurt, she feels it just like if she got hurt herself," Wolf replied, "Believe me I know it's strange, but I feel it when she's hurt too."

"So all those hits she took to the chest and shoulders?" Hawk asked confusedly.

"I felt them, in my shoulders, in my chest, like bee stings and dull throbs."

"And when she was awake but not you?" Tango asked sounding a bit confused.

"That's her secret that even I don't know," Wolf answered with a chuckle as he walked under the Zoid.

The towns Mayor walked up to the men and stood watching Wolf strain against his broken ribs as he reached up and rubbed the König's belly. The massive wolf let her self fall over in a plume of sand giving Wolf the ability to give her a proper looking over without much strain, seeming to enjoy the attention too.

"That young man really loves his Zoid," the man said with a smile, "Seven broken ribs in his chest and he's standing here petting it."

"That's Ghost for you, tough as nails till he's with his girl or his Zoid," Tango laughed, "What can we do for you Mayor?"

"We'd like to inform you that we are paying for the full three weeks despite the job being dealt with, and your friend's medical charges are handled as well," the Mayor replied with a wider smile as the König started shaking its massive back leg at Wolf's touch, "And that you're welcome to stay in the hotel until your friend is okay to travel. If we'd known they'd come with more than two Zoids we'd have told you."

"We understand, they had a pattern going, you couldn't know they'd go all out," Hawk replied as he felt some weight come off his chest.

Wolf spent nearly an hour with his Zoid and to Hawk's amazement he found himself laughing despite his guilt over the Gordos pilot as the König seemed to act more like a beloved pet than a machine. The three men stayed in town till the end of their contract, giving Wolf a little time to heal and to make sure the military had the full story. When they finally got back to base they'd been gone just over five weeks and Melody nearly killed Tango when she hugged him.

"You'll have to be gentle with your boyfriend Bomber, he's hurt pretty bad," Hawk said with a worried smile, "He'll be okay if you don't crush him like you did Tango," he added with a laugh.

"So what happened out there guys?" Razor asked as he came into the hanger, "You've been out five weeks and haven't sent word as to how the job went."

"Job went sour, they brought four big Zoids and a Guysack, but we won," Wolf said with a smile until Melody grabbed him and his eyes went wide, his jaw clenched in pain as what felt like half a dozen swords ripped through his chest.

"Melody let him go!" Tango half shouted as he booked towards the youngest member of the Trazen crew and the König Wolf let out a pained and surprised yelp.

The brown haired young woman let him go and Wolf fell to the floor as his breathing steadied and the pain began to subside. The König shook her head slowly before laying down on her stomach as they both slowly recovered.

"What did I do?!" the young woman said with a panicked voice and a knot in her throat.

"You didn't do anything, but we did say to be gentle with the kid," Hawk replied as he helped his blue eyed crewmate to his knees, "He's got seven broken ribs, three on his right side and four on his left."

"You good Ghost?" Tango asked as he smacked Wolf in the face gently.

"I'm good, but that was excruciating," the black haired young man said as he tried to breathe slowly despite his need for air, running a hand through his hair.

"What happened?" Melody asked sounding a lot more angry than before.

"It's like Wolf said, job went south, they brought not only the Command Wolves we'd been told about but a Guysack, a Shield Liger straight off an army base, and a Gordos packing serious cannon power," Hawk replied seriously, "We got the full three weeks pay despite us only being on the job for a week and a half, we took the rest as recovery time from injuries."

"They also paid our med bills," Tango added with a nod towards Wolf and held up his well wrapped wrist.

"Razor, we're clean, military has all the bad guys, well, all but one of em," Wolf said as he forced himself to his feet, the König getting to her own feet at the same time.

"Yeah, Razor we gotta talk about that," Hawk said with a serious tone as he stepped between Wolf and the blonde haired boss.

By the time Wolf had managed to get to his feet Blaze was beside him half holding him up and half letting him lean on his metal hip just to stay conscious. Tammy, Sarah Beth and Luna were all there trying to find some way to be helpful to their adopted brother while Lemur and Vailen were just waiting for the explanation Hawk wanted to give.

"Get Wolf to a bed and then we'll talk about the job," Razor said with a worried glance.

"No Razor, hear him out," Wolf said with a pained breath as he started sweating bullets, "He's been working this up since we got pounded."

"Wolf, you need rest, not to be on your feet making things worse," the blonde replied as he stepped passed his redheaded crewmate.

"Hear him out Razor, I'm fine as long as my König is standing, if she falls then worry about me."

"Alright, Hawk, let's hear it," the green eyed man replied with a resigned tone.

"I'm leaving the Trazen crew," Hawk replied with a confident tone, "In the last few weeks I've killed a man, no matter how justified I was, I won't get over that."

"I understand not feeling right about killing but does that mean you have to leave?" Razor replied with a serious tone.

"No, but I walked into my home in town and my daughter, two years old now and she didn't know who I was," the redhead replied with a saddened tone, "I can't live with that, it just takes too much."

"I understand that killing ain't easy, and your family misses you, but does that really mean you have to leave?" the blonde asked with a serious tone, "We really need your Zoid."

"Razor, I killed that man out of anger, I didn't think the way I usually do, I didn't even aim for joints like I usually do, I just let those Gatling guns take that Gordos apart. I don't want that to happen again and I fear the day I may do it again because it means I've grown comfortable with death, that's not what this crew is about."

"Let the man loose, he's earned his fair in this last job, saved my sorry butt," Wolf added with a chuckle that was cut short by his ribs, "Not to mention his Horn nearly losing its head."

Razor walked around to the left side of the Dark Horn and looked at the head and noticed the long scar from the round that slid from the eye to the back of its head. The blonde walked back over to Hawk and stared the man in the eye for a moment before nodding and giving him a pat on the shoulder before leaving the hanger all together.

"You'll be missed here Hawk," Vailen said with a small frown, "Good luck."

"See you to town Hawk," Tango said with a wave as he walked over to his Redler.

"Hawk, we hate each other do I really have to say anything?" Wolf asked with a chuckle as he straightened up and walked towards the older man.

"No, but…Good luck kid," Hawk replied with a chuckle before he hugged Sarah Beth, Tammy and Luna, and shook Melody's hand since she wanted to keep a hand on Wolf just in case.

Hawk caught a ride back into the Trazen crew's home village with Tango and everything kind of stopped for the whole crew for a while so Wolf and Tango could take some time to heal. Wolf and Blaze had another argument about leaving, this time Wolf truly knew his Organoid had won it with flawless logic, but be couldn't leave because of Melody.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It didn't take long for Tango to go a little stir crazy, a week and a half to be exact, so he went with Razor, Vailen and Lemur on a protection job just outside New Helic City. Wolf talked the sisters and Melody into going into a courier business as hired hands under him. When Razor got back from the protection job about a week later he went with Wolf to legalize the Ghost Pack Courier Company and the Trazen Crew Defenders with the Guylos Empire.

"Wolf, you sure you want to run a company and try to run with the Defenders?" Razor asked as the two men walked out of the registry office.

"I'm only signed on as a back up, I've got my own work to deal with now," Wolf replied with a short chuckle that turned painful quick.

"Sure you should be working at all?" the blonde haired man asked with a worried look as the younger man held his chest a moment.

"Probably not, Doc in Trisdale said it was best I didn't, but I barely listened to my mother so," the black haired young man replied with a smile, "Besides it's not like I've got a floating rib cage or even floating ribs after four weeks."

"If you say so kid, but you pass out from the pain I'm gonna leave you lying where you fall," the boss replied with a chuckle.

"Long as you call a doc before you leave town," Wolf replied with a chuckle as they walked down the road towards the hangers where their Zoids were stored.

"Been meaning to ask about that last run of yours into Trisdale, Tango said something about Trazens not paying over there cause of a ghost or some such."

"Melody and I took out a couple small timers attacking the place, Red Horn and a couple desert Command Wolves; one of the villagers caught my call sign. I hope the boys didn't take advantage."

"Nope, they talked the folks into letting them pay for their chow. I bet you and Melody can't pay for anything."

"We really can't, kinda hate that with a place as strapped as Trisdale, but at least they have a regular supply runner."

The two men fell into silence as Wolf started looking through the job list the licensing people handed him. He glimpsed a sign on one of the buildings he passed along the way and stopped, Razor stopped a couple feet away. Wolf double checked the sign and the name on one of the courier jobs on the list.

"Hey, these guys have a cross town run they just posted," Wolf said with a nod at the building, "Care to take a courier job before getting into village defense?"

Razor simply shrugged and headed for the buildings front door, Wolf not even half a step behind. They were searched before being let further into the building. Razor had to give up the two pistols he usually carried at his back as well as the knife he carried in plain view.

"You boys watch those real close, I'll be needing them back when we leave," the blonde said with a smirk at one of the more frightened looking guards.

"Come on Razor, stop scaring the doormen," Wolf laughed as he walked to the reception desk, "Your business is looking for a courier for a cross town run, I'm with the Ghost Pack Courier Company," he said with a charming smile to the green haired woman behind the desk.

"Yes, well I'll need to see your license and a photo ID for confirmation," the woman replied with a smile of her own.

"They changed the licenses around recently, photo and all right there on it," the black haired man replied as he handed her his Imperial license.

"Go on up then, third floor hang a left off the elevator and it'll be the second door on the right side of the hall."

"Thank you, if you don't mind I'll leave my partner here."

Wolf left before Razor or the receptionist could protest; he could only chuckle as he stepped off the elevator what Razor was probably doing to those poor guards at the door. The black haired young man was quick about picking up the folders that needed to be delivered along with half the pay for the job. When he got back to the lobby Razor had taken to showing the guards at the door how to search for hidden knives.

"Razor, collect your gear, we're out of here," Wolf ordered as he walked by the receptionist's desk.

The Trazen crew's boss snapped to it despite the quick flash of a grimace that crossed the blonde's face. They were well on their way to the drop off point before they struck up some idle chit chat. After the job was finished and they received their pay, Wolf and Razor left quickly and were in their Zoids on their way out of town within two hours of setting up their businesses.

"Wolf, I'm not letting you go out without a gun after today," Razor said as they powered through the open desert towards alpha base.

"I don't want a gun Razor, we've been over this," the black haired young man replied with a serious tone.

"Too bad, you'll need one for the runs into Guygalos and whatever other big places you might come across," the blonde man replied seriously, "And I can bet you money Melody will carry one too."

"Melody will be a part timer, she'll mostly be picking up money from our jobs and your jobs and taking them to the mobile base as you wanted it," Wolf replied with an equally serious tone, "I don't expect her to be without protection, but I don't want it if I'm gonna have Blaze with me all the time."

"Again, too bad, I'll have Lemur give you one out of the range locker until I can get you a more permanent weapon," Razor replied coldly, "First order of the Trazen Defenders boss."

"Fine, you win this round, but damnit Razor I can't always carry the thing, and most of the time I really shouldn't need to."

"I get that kid, but I don't think Melody would much appreciate you going without something for just in case, especially if it's the reason you never come back."

Wolf closed the link between their Zoids and sat back in his seat staring up at the blue sky tented purple by the red view screen of his König's cockpit glass. Blaze was with Melody on a run into Republic territory since this was a short trip, and the black haired young man couldn't believe just how much he missed them both. He knew he'd see even less of Melody now that they'd both have parts to play with the new business, he also knew the dull ache that currently held his heart wasn't from his healing ribs.

Over the next month Wolf saw the brown haired young woman a grand total of three times and he'd seen his sisters even less, letting his orders for all of them float through the mobile base the Trazen Defenders kept close by. He didn't see alpha or delta at all in that time either. Blaze would often go with Melody when she had large amounts of money to ferry to the village or mobile base so he saw little of his own Organoid too. The black haired young man was on his third base to base run and he was planning an overnight stay to really clean up and get some solid sleep, also hoping they didn't search his storage compartment and find the new sniper rifle he'd bought on his last trip into Guygalos.

"Courier Alpha-Charlie-two-two-five, you've been cleared for entry into hanger three, you have a couple guests awaiting you as well," the base com officer said through the radio, "They arrived just this morning."

"Rodger, hanger three," Wolf replied tiredly as he moved his black on red König Wolf towards the hanger, "Can you tell me who these guests are?"

"Brown haired young lady, with a black and red dragon looking machine, won't give a name just an ID number, Charlie five-five-three, came in a blue and red Pteras," the radio officer replied with an almost audible smile.

"Thank you for the heads up, entering hanger three now, where can I find your base CO?"

"He's waiting for you in the hanger with your guest two-two-five."

Wolf followed the hanger boss' instructions and parked the König right where he was told to, the base commander met him on the egress platform. He spotted Blaze and Melody standing by her red and blue Pteras on the other side of the hanger just before he popped the cockpit.

"Well Mr. Novis, it's good to see you again," the base commander said with a chuckle as he leaned against the König's cheek, "What do you have for me this time?"

"New SOPs from HQ according to the rumor mill, but I wouldn't know Captain," Wolf replied with a chuckle as he reached into the back seat for the case, "You know I don't read Top Secret stuff."

"Paranoia isn't a bad thing when you're in the military," the Captain replied with a chuckle.

"Mind if me and my guests stay over a night? Getting kinda late and I could use a soft bed and a shower," the black haired young man asked with a smile as he went through his shut down checks.

"Sure kid, got a place set aside for couriers, it's not much but beds are plenty soft. Is your hair getting longer again?"

"Thanks Captain, and yes, if you've got a barber on base I'd be appreciative," Wolf replied with a chuckle as he shook his chin length hair.

Wolf was out of the König with Melody in his arms a few minutes later, Blaze just standing there looking a little embarrassed as he and the base captain were forced to watch the two teenagers. The Captain personally led them to the room the base had set aside for couriers and visiting flag officers before leaving the three of them.

"Some reason you're out this way? Your last job should have taken you well away from this base until well after I'd left," Wolf asked with an oddly happy curiosity.

"We pulled one of your stunts, Blaze flew and I slept," Melody replied with a giggle as she hugged her boyfriend around the chest, "I thought you'd be worried about the business end."

"Well I was, but I am still happier to see you here," the blue eyed young man replied with a smile, "What kind of bonus did you get for getting that last job done so fast?"

"Enough to cover half a Zoid or a total systems upgrade."

*Yeah, try 'and',* Blaze growled with a hissed laugh, *She could buy a Redler if she haggled a few thousand off.*

"How many is a few?" Wolf asked with an impressed tone.

"Maybe four," Melody replied with an uncertain tone.

"Alright, fill me in on everything else that's happened," the black haired young man said as he sat down on the edge of one of the beds.

Melody spent about half an hour going over the business dealings of the Ghost Pack Courier Company, mainly the bonuses the Tammy, Sarah Beth, and Luna were getting and the new list of jobs that had come out, they also spent some of that half hour picking who would take those jobs. She spent another going over what Razor, Vailen, Tango and Lemur were doing out near the Helic Republic and Guylos Empire border and the current location of the Trazen's mobile base. The barber showed up about half way through her report and cut Wolf's hair back to an inch and a half except for the bangs framing his face, at Melody's request, before leaving almost as unnoticed as his arrival. Blaze decided to stay with Wolf since Melody was taking a break from both jobs to recover a little more and pay a visit to her home town for the first time in six years.

"You're sure you don't want me to take some time off and go with you?" Wolf asked with a concerned tone as the two readied their Zoids to head out the next morning.

"It should be okay, the captain said there isn't any bandit activity they're aware of in that area and besides, I'll still be within com range of this base even in the middle of town since we got the radio fixed right in the Pteras," Melody replied seriously, "Besides, you're the boss, you need to be on the clock."

"I'd rather be there for my girl if she needed me, but if you're sure," the blue eyed young man said with a smile before giving her a gentle peck on the lips and heading for his König and Blaze.

Melody took off headed southeast towards her former home in her step father's Pteras thinking about what her home might look like after six years while Wolf headed northwest thinking of Melody. When the small village came into view the brown haired young woman couldn't help doing a slow pass just to make sure things were where they used to be. When she touched down she shut everything down, and pulled her dark brown hair into a pony tail before taking the gun Razor and Wolf had insisted she carry and placing it in a lockable compartment in the cockpit.

"Hello young lady, stopping off to resupply?" a kind voice asked as Melody dropped out of her cockpit.

"Yes and no, I'm looking to stay in town for a few days," the hazel eyed sixteen year old replied honestly, "Been flying for near a month straight for work."

"Well you're going to have a problem then, you see we don't have a hotel here." The older gentleman that came with the voice replied with a regretful tone, "I doubt anyone will be so willing to put up a total stranger despite the friendly faces."

"No worries if there's anyone still living in the old Nouvelle house on the other side of town," Melody replied with a sweet smile.

The gentleman looked closely at her for a few moments before a look of warm recognition came into his eyes. Melody was slightly shocked when the silver haired man pulled her into a tight hug.

"You look so much like your mother child," the man whispered in her ear with a shaky voice that told her the man was on the verge of tears.

"Who are you to know that?" Melody asked as she gently pushed the older man away.

"Well that young Melody Nouvelle is an understandable query, the last time you saw me you were a little more than ten years old and I was a good deal younger," the gentleman laughed as he started towards the village forcing Melody to follow, "I am the village preacher, the same preacher who presided over your mother's funeral."

"Rosten, I kept my mother's maiden name. Is my step father still alive?"

"Yes child, he cleaned up his act not long after you left. I wouldn't mention the Pteras, he may still be a little sore about that."

"Well, he can't really have it back now either way, it's in my name for work purposes."

"What are you doing with yourself now?"

"Depends on which of my bosses you ask," Melody replied with a giggle as they walked down the villages main thoroughfare, "I'm a courier mostly, a money runner part time, and village defense on rare occasion."

"Well that all seems perfectly chaotic," the preacher replied with a chuckle of his own.

They kept up the small talk until they reached the door, mostly talking about the types of things she was hired to carry. When they actually reached the door Melody felt a sudden wave of nervousness come over her as her palms started to sweat. The preacher noticed but said nothing as he held his hand up to knock, silently waiting for her to give some sort of signal to go ahead. When the hazel eyed young woman finally took a deep breath and nodded he knocked rather loudly on the heavy door.

"Who is it?" a clear, strong voice asked just before the quiet thud of heavy boots started towards the door.

"It's the preacher, Devon," the gentleman replied with a casual tone just before the door swung open part way, "Figured you might want to see who, literally, just flew into town."

In the shadow of the door a tall dark haired man with bright blue eyes and a goatee to match his hair was looking only at the preacher. Melody could figure by the small opening in the door and the preacher standing between it and her, that her step father couldn't see her.

"Thought I heard a fly over a few…" Devon said, his voice dropping off before he finished his sentence, "My god you look just like her."

"Second time I've heard that today," Melody said with a small smile, "Last one came with a hug," she added as she fought back the knot forming in her throat.

Devon stepped out and picked her up in a tight bear hug that she returned with tears of joy sliding down her cheeks, the preacher watching on with a warm smile of his own.

"Both of you, come on in, please," Devon said with a smile as he gestured to the house, "I've got more questions than I know what to do with right now."

"Devon, I'll be on my way, but Melody needs a place to stay for a few days," the preacher said with a smile when he was cut off by the other man's emphatic acceptance.

"So, Preacher said you cleaned up after I left," Melody said after her step father had settled down a little.

"Yes, and I can't say as I blame you for leaving the way you did either," Devon replied with a somber tone as he settled into his favored chair, "What I did was unforgivable, you were only ten, you'd just lost your mother and I was leaving you alone to fend for yourself."

"It did teach me to be a stronger person, also taught me to boil water for all those easy meals," the hazel eyed young woman replied with a lighter tone than her step father's as she took a seat on the couch, "I'm sorry I didn't stop in before today, I've flown over here a few times in the last six years just to see what's changed but I never had the courage to stop."

"It's alright, you probably ended up better off not being here for the mass of stupid mistakes I made after you left," the dark haired man replied.

"What did happen in the months after I left?"

"You're going to hate me," Devon replied with a slight, but regret filled, smirk, "But it took three days after I got let out for me to realize you were even gone, another day to realize you'd taken my Pteras."

"Umm, yeah that's a little ridiculous."

"I stayed drunk for the most of that, on the fourth day when I found out you'd taken my Zoid I went on a two day bender, ended up in the jail house for quite a few assaults. Anyway, after a month long stay there and no booze, I realized what an ass and what a horrible parent I'd been. That led to a lot of talking with the preacher, and everyone else around town, trying to find out where you might have headed."

"So it only took a month for you to clean up?"

"No, no, no, it took me nearly a year, between drying out and still getting into the occasional brawl over past arguments I ended up bouncing between the doc's place and the jail house for a little more than eight months. Anger and depression took me a while to get over after all that, but I've been sober for a little short of five years now."

"That's great Dad," Melody replied as she got up and hugged him around the neck.

"It's good to hear you call me that again," Devon said as he wrapped his hands around her arms, "So what about you? Still flying my Pteras?"

"Yeah, and I've learned to fly Redlers, Sinkers and a few others in the last six years," the brown haired young woman replied with a smile as she let the older man go and went back to the couch, "Doing a lot of mechanic work too."

"Hired on with a shop aye?"

"A crew, defense team up close to the border, but right now I'm mostly just a courier or money runner."

"Got your courier's license, very nice, working for anyone I might have heard of way out here?"

"Nope, running with an independent called the Ghost Pack Courier Company, we do some cross border runs but mostly we stay in Guylos."

"I've heard that name, some base captain from close by came into town, said they were good but nothing much else," Devon said shocking his step daughter, "Could use a courier myself actually, need some papers taken into Guygalos, someone's buying that old Zoid shop on the edge of town, I agreed to be a middle man."

"We get the job done," Melody said with a chuckle, "I'll route a call in to my boss and tell him I'm picking up a run tomorrow."

"Well there isn't a real need to rush honey, you just got here and I want to get to know my step daughter again," Devon replied with a chuckle, "I have to ask, and it's going to sound a little selfish of me, but did you ever change your last name to Nouvelle like you used to say you wanted to?" he asked with a more reverent tone.

"No, I kept Mom's name, just gave me something to hold on to her after I ran, I didn't even pick up a picture."

"We'll have to fix that I guess."

Melody stayed with her step father for a week filling him in on what she'd been up to for the six years she'd been away from home. She also spent time talking to a few of her old friends that were still living in the village and some of the people that remembered her mother. After the week was up she got to the courier job her step father needed done and headed out with a wide smile on her face and some new happy memories.

At the same time Melody took off from her home town headed for the Imperial capital Guygalos, Tammy Tillion was getting the run down on her next job in a town nearly a month's travel away. The town wasn't huge, but it had two of just about everything from restaurants to Zoid repair shops, the rest was residential or office space.

"Your allotted time for this job will be two weeks, come in any time under that the extra pay plus an extra ten thousand will be your bonus to be added on to the other half of your standard fees," the woman providing the job said from behind her desk.

"I understand, Ghost Pack Courier Service guarantees at least one day ahead of schedule so that should be plenty of time ma'am," the blue haired young woman replied with a polite tone, "We also respectfully offer that if we don't meet that mark you may withhold any bonus."

"I believe we'll be paying out a bonus on this one anyway, we'd like it completed as fast as possible young lady," the woman replied with a small smile, "You'll be carrying important business documents in a locked case, the man you're to drop the case with will have the combination."

A man about twice Tammy's size, in both height and width in the shoulder, walked into the office carrying two silver briefcases and politely stepped around the young woman as he made his way to the desk, opening one facing the blue haired young woman and informing her it was the upfront part of her payment. Tammy did a quick check to be sure of the amount before taking the money and stuffing it into the satchel she was carrying.

"Just so I don't confuse cases ma'am," she said with the lady behind the desk gave her a funny look.

With all the paperwork in order Tammy strode quickly out of the office under the watchful eye of two armed guards who were escorting her back to her Command Wolf on the outskirts. She struck up a pleasant conversation with the two men as they made their way and waved goodbye as she powered up the orange, white and black Zoid. Once she was well underway she activated the radio to the mobile base.

"Trazen mobile, this is courier Tango-Alpha-six-two-three," Tammy said in a calm voice, "Reporting on job status, two weeks allotted, will report back on completion."

"Rodger Tammy, be careful," Tango's voice came through the return, "Where you headed?"

"A town not too far from the capital, these folks were in a hurry so I'll probably power through a couple nights," the blue haired young woman replied as she loosened her gun belt a little.

"Okay kiddo, we're off on the border, but Luna isn't too far from you if you'd like some cover. Oh, and Wolf asked to relay a happy fifteenth birthday message to his little sister, sorry it's a couple days late, that was my fault."

"No need for the cover, I'll be pretty close to a couple bases along the way. And I'm just glad he remembered I forgot his."

Tango acknowledged her message with a chuckle and closed the link and Tammy settled into a more comfortable place in the Command Wolf's cockpit. She powered through the first night after having stayed in town at the local hotel the night before, the rest of the trip she stopped just after nightfall for at least five hours before continuing on her path. It took only a week for her to reach the drop off point by this method which meant no matter what time she got to the office she'd be getting a hefty bonus.

"You're nearly a week ahead of schedule young lady, what happened?" the man standing in front of a massive window that looked out over the town asked without turning to face her.

"Powered through a few nights, the lady who sent me said to rush," Tammy replied honestly, "I'll need to confirm your identity before handing over the package," she added holding up a fingerprint scanner.

The man gladly placed his thumb on the pad and after a moment the scanner pinged a confirmation. Tammy signed all the release papers and the man filled out the confirmation of receipt forms. A few minutes later an armed guard came in with another silver case with Tammy's pay and bonus. The blue haired young woman gladly accepted the escort back to her Zoid and was out of town only a few minutes after making the drop off. Instead of calling in and confirming her off job status she headed for the closest military base.

"Unidentified Zoid approaching south gate, state your purpose and identify yourself," a calm voice said over the base radio frequency.

"This is Courier Tango-Alpha-six-two-three, requesting entry and short term protection," Tammy replied calmly despite the butterflies that suddenly found her stomach.

"Six-two-three, we're not a protection detail or a hotel here this is a military base," a new voice replied with an angry tone.

"I just need a couple days until my money runner can pick up my pay Sir, I just got a really big bonus and I've got two jobs pay already in the lock box," the blue haired young woman said, her tone showing a little agitation of her own, "I'd rather not carry this much cash all at once and I don't trust hotel safes."

"Six-two-three your request is granted, you can park your Zoid in hanger four, report to Captain Teagan there," the original voice replied with a slightly lighter tone than before.

Tammy waited until the hanger doors were actually closed behind her to make the radio call into the Trazen mobile base. She notified them of her off job status and requested Melody pick up her pay first rather than last, Tango agreed and signed off to contact the brown haired Pteras pilot.

"How much are you carrying six-two-three?" the base captain asked with a sour tone.

"I've got seventy five thousand from my last job and nearly sixteen thousand from the other two jobs Sir," Tammy replied coolly.

The base captain and two sergeants escorted her to the base vault where he personally signed the paperwork on the space. Tammy slept and ate pretty good until Melody radioed in a couple days later, Wolf was with her to play guard alongside Blaze. Tammy went back to work while Wolf and Melody escorted the money to the Trazen mobile base.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Wolf had been a way from alpha and delta for six months as a courier, every single bit he didn't spend on resupplying his water and food stores went back to the Trazen crew for the village they all called home. As time went by he was beginning to realize he didn't miss the village as much as he did seeing familiar faces.

Blaze was resting between the shoulders of the König just at the base of it's neck as he'd come to enjoy doing years before waiting for whatever might happen next. Wolf was staring at a contract for a courier job, elbows on his knees and chin on his closed fists, when his com system lit up with an incoming transmission. Glancing at the screen that popped up on the side of his cockpit he saw a man with short mussed up blonde hair and emerald green eyes staring back at him with a serious look.

"What's up Razor?" the black haired man asked as he went back to reading the job description.

"Need to know if you're off job, Vailen is headed back home with a load of supplies and we just got a call for five defenders," Razor replied with a tone that matched his appearance.

"Depends on where, I've got a contract on the screen right now," Wolf replied seriously.

"Place called Fire Colony, Repub…."

"Fire Colony? I'm in," the blue eyed man said before Razor could finish, "I'm already on route, meet me two kilcks west of the main town at the ruins," he added as he slammed the König's controls towards home.

"Okay then, see you there, shouldn't take us two days, sure you two won't be the ones meeting us?"

"I'll be waiting," the young man replied coldly before switching the radio off and letting his anger take over, shifting his eyes to deep red.

The König made the trip in less than a day after Blaze fused to its core. Wolf had alarms blaring in his ears as he pulled the controls back at the base ruins he'd set the massive wolf's sniper sights to. The black on red machine instinctively climbed what was left of the building and found her usual sniper's nest and turned the guns to the windows on the building almost a football field away.

*We going into town?* Blaze asked from his place between the shoulders of the König.

"No, too much to be explained, not enough time to think up a way to do it," Wolf replied with a chuckle as he sat back to wait.

*We telling the rest of them this is home?*

"Not if I can help it, but I can bet I'm going to have to, I jumped on this one pretty quick."

*You always said you'd send some money home, could do that right now.*

"No, can bet my mother would ask where I got it, not sure I want to explain how I got my courier's license at fifteen rather than the standard eighteen, not to mention she'd want me to see everyone in town, not really looking forward to that or the argument about me not coming home for my last two birthdays."

*Maybe for your seventeenth we can make it home,* the black and red Organoid growled with a short hissing laugh.

"We'll have to wait and see bud."

It only took half a day after his arrival for the rest of the Trazen Defenders to show up. Razor's heavily modified black and white Zaber Fang led the way towards the ruins, Tango and Lemur followed close behind in a pair of heavily armed black Command Wolves that Wolf recognized from delta's storage hanger just as first light came to the sky.

"What are we here for?" Wolf asked cutting off any questions about him and the village.

"Five Zoids came in last week, demanded a continuous payment to keep them out, shot up a couple buildings and said they'd be back," Razor replied seriously, "We've got a day for set up and maybe a day more before they'll be back."

"How are they fixed for our payment?" the blue eyed man as he fought to appear indifferent, slamming his anger into a cold spot near his feet so it wouldn't shift his eye color and give his attachment to the place away.

"They aren't, small town, ten to one we'll be getting some fresh food or something like that as payment," the blonde replied seriously.

"I could use some of that, been eating MREs and base chow for almost a month now," Wolf replied with a chuckle, "I've got me a decent sniper's nest here, you guys hit town I'm going to see if I can't figure a second."

Razor nodded silently and killed the radio, Wolf noticed how his König was placed and the direction Razor looked just before he vanished from the side view screen.

"Damn, I just had to fall asleep here," the black haired man cursed as he maneuvered the massive mechanical animal out of her sniper's nest and headed up to the second place where he could see the village.

It'd been almost two years since he left, so looking down from the roof of the old hanger brought back memories of the bandits that had been the reason behind his leaving. He could almost see the Helcats firing on his home and felt his hand tighten on the controls before shaking the sight away before he fired on one of his own.

*This is still the best view of home,* Blaze growled as the sun came up behind them and bathed the small village in early morning golds and reds.

"No kidding," Wolf replied with a smile.

Razor, Tango and Lemur took posts at the village's largest entrance, figuring the group demanding payment would want to make a show of walking down the main thoroughfare. Wolf didn't disagree openly but he knew that the group wouldn't make it anywhere near his home if he and Blaze had any say. The König settled in for a stay, crossing her paws under her head before shutting down most of her unneeded systems.

"Wolf, why are you hiding over there?" Tango's voice played through the voice radio a few minutes after high noon.

"Because I want to remain a surprise for anyone who shows up, if I come in and someone is watching, they'll know where to find me and can shoot me down," Wolf replied seriously.

"Kid you've gotta lighten up, come into town, get a drink," the older man replied with a chuckle.

"You know full well I don't lighten up on a job like this, and I don't drink," the black haired young man replied, rolling his eyes at the radio.

"Well then come in and fill your water tanks for the journey back, just get your ass over here."

"If he wants to stay out let him," Razor cut in with an annoyed tone, "And quit drinking anything but water and coffee, its barely after noon."

"Oh come on boss, we don't have to be on alert till tomorrow," Tango said, Wolf just noticing the slight slur to the man's words.

"Lemur, status?" Wolf asked seriously.

"Stone sober kid, don't worry about me," the man replied with a chuckle, "He found someone with some local stuff, paid for the bottle."

"That'll be Harris," the König pilot muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Lemur asked seriously, "Couldn't quite here you there."

"Nothing, just thinking out loud," the blue eyed man replied calmly despite his nerves.

Several moments went by before Lemur replied and let Wolf relax in the cockpit of his Zoid. He switched the radio off and slammed a closed fist into the controls, drawing a growl of protest from the König, as he tried to get his increasingly drifting thoughts back under control.

It was nearly an hour later when he finally decided he did need to stretch his legs for a while. He'd spent years exploring the ruins of the base between hiding from bullies and just playing there after finding Blaze and his König. As he walked around now everything felt so much closer together, Blaze didn't seem to notice as he walked a pace behind his friend.

"I never realized how much I missed this place," Wolf said as they walked into the small antechamber where he'd found Blaze at just five years old.

*It does bring back the disturbing memory of Daniel swinging from that wiring up there,* Blaze growled with a chuckle as he stared at the ceiling where a bundle of loose and powerless wires hung.

"He was fine, you and I almost had heart attacks when we found him up there," the black haired man replied with a laugh of his own.

"So this is where you found him?" a woman's voice came from behind him making both of them snap around.

Leaning against the doorway was a black haired, green eyed fourteen year old girl that looked more amused than shocked at the pistol in Wolf's hand.

"Don't do that again,' the black haired man said coldly as he holstered the weapon, "Samantha, what the hell are you doing out here?"

"That black haired guy with the red streaks told us they had a guy out here, Mom sent me to see if they wanted any food or water at dinner time, I recognized your König," the teenager replied seriously, "Can't believe Daniel refuses to bring me to this room."

"He got in trouble last time, must still remember," the blue eyed man replied with a lighter tone, "You can't tell them I'm here."

"Why not? Your Mom still freaks out every time your brother disappears for more than a few hours because of you," Samantha replied angrily, "You're the reason I have to constantly lie to her about knowing you're okay."

"What?"

"It's been over a year Wolf, damn close to two, you've never once made contact with them, your mother fears the worst and your brother is still wondering why you really left. I had to tell them something, so I said you'd sent a letter six months ago saying you were fine and that you'd send money when you could, six months I haven't had enough to give them to keep your word."

"I didn't ask you to do that when I left."

"No, but you did tell me to take care of them, that's what I've been trying to do," the young woman snapped, "Its kept them both from falling apart."

"Then my word will be kept, I'll contact one of the couriers and send money through them," Wolf said calmly, "But they can't know I'm here right now."

"Why the hell not!"

"Because there's too much that I can't explain right now, too much I simply don't know how to. Samantha, just don't tell them, please."

"Damn you Wolf, go see your family!"

"I DON'T FUCKING WANT TO SO STOP!"

The declaration stopped them both cold, Wolf staring at the floor as his brother's girlfriend stared at him, clearly shocked by what he'd said, even Blaze let his mouth fall open at the words his master and friend had spoken.

"Samantha, I'm not here, that's all there is to it, go home tell your mom that the man on the base post has his own supplies. I'm not ready to see them, not just yet."

He walked passed her without waiting for her reply and headed straight for his König, Blaze a few paces behind to let the young man think. When he reached the Zoid he moved to his best and most hidden sniper's nest, an alcove just large enough and stable enough for the König to lay or stand in and remain hidden from sight on all sides but the one facing the village. The distance played to his advantage in this spot, the shadow of the three walls hid anything from view until you were standing in the alcove itself, the height gave another, he could shoot a downward angle on the guns all the way to the other side of the village before they leveled with the back of the Zoid.

The only reason he'd never used it in the fight against the bandits that his village elders had hired was because it took a while to get the König this far up. He'd hidden up here for two days after the first attack, waiting for them to come back.

"Alright Wolf, spill, we saw the girl crying on her way back in, what is this place to you?" Razor's voice cut through the memory of the day he'd found the place he was sitting.

"Don't know what you're talking about Razor," the black haired man replied coolly as he turned his sights to the black and white Zaber Fang.

"Don't snow me kid, you jumped on this faster than any of us has ever jumped on a job, you knew exactly where that set of ruins you're hiding in was when you said you'd meet us, hell you didn't even asked for coordinates. You seem to know all the hiding places since I'm getting a weapons alert and I can't even see you on radar. You've never turned away a courier job before and you blew one all to hell for this place."

"You're two kilometers away, your Zaber's radar stops at one and a half, that would be why."

"Don't change the subject on me kid, we're private if that's what you're worried on. Was that girl family?"

"No, just a girl sent to check my menu for dinner, made a promise to her that we'd stop these folk fast tomorrow."

"Wolf, you're snowing me again."

"No Razor, I'm just not telling you."

"If it helps us win this fight tomorrow I'm all for beating it out of you," the blonde replied angrily, "Wolf what the hell is Fire Colony to you?"

"It won't, and I'm still not talking, Razor, you've let me have my privacy before, keep doing that, for my sanity," Wolf said with a hint of pleading in his tone, "And your own health," he added threateningly.

"Alright, I'll chalk it up to a longer than usual stop over, but you best believe if this goes sour because you're not telling me something, so help me I'll end you myself."

The radio clicked off before Wolf could think to reply.

' _And bury me at home without shipping me anywhere.'_ He thought as he flicked a few switches shutting down every non essential system the König had, including the view screen.

As he sat in the darkness of his cockpit the König flashed 'It's good to be home' across the screens of the cockpit. He chuckled and laid back as much as the seat would let him and fell asleep almost instantly, the idea of dinner completely forgotten.

He woke up before sunrise as the König began starting herself up for the day and running a few diagnostics. The black haired man could see Blaze curled on the floor of their little alcove at the black on red Zoid's nose as the screen came to life showing a still starry night.

"Man I'd forgotten the view from up here," Wolf muttered after stretching out a little in the cockpit, "Hey why are you starting up so early?" he asked the Zoid.

The König gave a low threatening growl that got Blaze to his feet in an instant and set Wolf's senses on edge.

"What do you mean someone's coming? We're eight hundred feet off the ground, there is nothing in the scope but Razor, and nothing on radar," Wolf asked as his eyes scanned his surroundings.

The growl from the Zoid was less threatening this time but no less urgent.

"Slow down, did you say on foot? From where?"

Again the seeming urgent tone made the König difficult for the man to understand but he got the gist and popped the canopy pistol and flashlight in hand. Someone had found them and was coming up to investigate. The second his foot touched the floor of the alcove he could see movement from the far end so he swept the beam of his light across it catching the sleeve of a shirt disappearing behind the König's tail.

"Who's out there?" Wolf asked, deepening his voice a bit more hoping to keep from being recognized if it was someone from Fire Colony.

A rustle from behind him made Wolf snap around just in time to catch the person in the face with the flashlight effectively blinding them and making them recognizable as one of the boys who used to bully Wolf before he found Blaze.

"Why are you up here?" Wolf asked keeping the disguise in his voice.

"I kept seeing the moonlight reflecting off something up here, geez, I didn't expect a Zoid to be up here," the teenager replied with a shaky but confident tone as he tried to shield his eyes from the flashlight.

"Go home, this is my nest," the black haired young man replied yanking the guy back towards the stairs he'd had to have used, "And don't come out here again till the job is done and we've left."

He practically tossed the kid down the first flight before turning and getting back into the König's cockpit with a small smirk on his face.

"I surely hope he didn't recognize either of us," He said as the cockpit sealed tight.

The low growl from the König let him know the ex-bully hadn't had a chance to look close before Wolf caught him.

The rest of the hours between sunrise and the scheduled time for the 'disaster squad', as Tango had come to calling them in his drunken stupor, to show up passed quickly since Wolf was repeatedly sight setting off the hungover man. The five Zoids were small, three Guysacks and two Rev Raptors, all of them looked like scrap Zoids. The leading Rev Raptor was missing one of its wrist guns and had a broken hook blade, the second one looked to be missing part of its tail and several armor plates and the Guysacks didn't look much better off.

"Razor these guys aren't a threat, let's just run them off and go home," Tango groused as yet again Wolf set his weapons lock alarm off, "AND KNOCK THAT OFF GHOST!"

"Sorry, too much fun," Wolf said with a chuckle as he took aim at the armor shy Rev Raptor, "Razor I'm dropping the trailer."

The Zoid fell easy because of the missing armor, but the other four stopped cold when that Zoid hit the ground, none of them had expected a fight. They didn't even shoot at the approaching Zoids on the ground in front of them.

"Who the hell are you people?" a voice played over the open frequency of the radio.

"We're the ones here to make sure you don't harass these kind folks anymore," Wolf replied taking the lead away from Razor.

"Well you're only delaying the inevitable, we get paid or we wipe the village off the map," the voice said coldly.

"What is this? Some high school prank? Look at what you're up against, three Zoids with more teeth in their heads than yours, and more guns on their backs than those broken down things you're in could ever hope to hold."

"Not to mention a fourth you obviously didn't and still can't see," Razor added with a chuckle.

"Then we'll just come back when you're not here anymore, which will be what? A week?" the voice asked as the group turned to leave.

"Actually, we weren't planning on you leaving," Wolf replied as he fired three shots across their paths, "You're under arrest for terrorism and harassment."

"You don't have that authority!"

"I have the authority to shoot you where you stand after what you pulled, so don't push it, at least this way you get to live," the black haired man growled as he disabled the second Rev Raptor.

The three Guysacks surrendered quickly to the more powerful Zoids, Razor led the prisoners to the tiny little jail Fire Colony kept for local thieves more than anyone else. Wolf called in the Republic military to collect the bad guys and met up with Razor, Tango and Lemur on their way out of town a few days later.

Tango was hauling all the goods so he'd be the one going back to alpha, so a couple days after leaving the village Wolf pulled Lemur aside.

"I've got a favor to ask of you," Wolf said quietly as Razor and Tango slept.

"What's up?" the black haired small arm's trainer asked.

"I'm borrowing you as a courier, I can not run this job."

"Whatever you need man, as long as I can catch up with Razor and Tango at alpha before they need to leave."

"You'll be there a few days later at minimum; I need you to go back to Fire Colony."

Wolf pulled out a fairly large stack of high denomination bills and stuck it in an official courier pouch he had on hand along with a letter to his family. He wrote Samantha's name on the pouch and handed it to Lemur.

"If anyone but the person this is to be delivered to asks why it wasn't delivered while you were in town, tell them you ran into me on your way in, but forgot about it when Tango got into that local stuff he bought."

"And if she asks?"

"She won't."

"The girl who was crying when she came back from the base ruins."

Wolf simply raised his eyebrows slightly as his only indication of the older man's statement being right. The Redler pilot nodded and headed for the Command Wolf he was currently piloting and went ahead and started back tracking.

Lemur couldn't help but wonder was in the letter Wolf had stuffed in the courier pouch, or just how pissed Razor was going to be when he woke up and saw his second defender gone. The thought of maybe meeting someone from Wolf's past made him push the controls a little further bringing the Command Wolf to an all out run. The mystery of the kid drove him and Tango nuts, they'd taken to making wild guesses about his past just to see if they could get close but the kid had an iceberg for a poker face.

"Damn kid probably grew up in Fire Colony," the black haired man said to himself with a chuckle as he set the controls to auto pilot, "Going to have to stick around for an hour or so, see if I can figure him out."

Upon his arrival less than a day later no one asked about his return, though most seemed curious to see him wondering through town days after completing the job, even more so that he was alone. He found the young woman named Samantha White at her mother's small fruit and vegetable stand in the market.

"You're Samantha White?" He asked politely.

"Yes sir, why have you returned?" the black haired teenager asked seriously.

"This time I visit as a courier," Lemur replied with a smile as he held out the courier pouch, "Something for his family I assume."

The flash of surprise that went across the young woman's face told him everything he needed to know, her shaking hands were another tell but he simply smiled and vanished into the crowd and then from the village entirely. By the time he reached the alpha entrance though, he couldn't figure out what to do with what he'd found out about Wolf, he didn't figure to tell Razor, but couldn't decide if he should tell Tango or not.

He didn't have to think about it long since just as he was about to radio in to have the gate opened in swung open and the rest of the Trazen Defenders filed out headed for their next job.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Wolf Novis, a few months shy of his seventeenth birthday, had been running Ghost Pack Courier service for just over a year, in that time he'd spent absolutely zero time at alpha or delta, the two bases of the Trazen crew. If it hadn't been for near constant contact from his sister's and the rest of the Trazen crew, he figured he would have gone nuts during the first six months, but the solitude stopped bothering him after that.

He'd backed up the Trazen defenders a couple times when he needed a break from playing base to base courier for the Empire. And while he and Melody had found every moment they could together, the time apart put a strain on their relationship for a time. So much so she wouldn't answer his direct communications for almost a month after he'd stuck his foot in his mouth, about what he still wasn't sure, but they'd patched things up the first time they were able to get together in person between jobs. She even got the barber in town to cut his hair the way she liked it again since Wolf had let it grow damn near down to his shoulders again. They'd talked a few times about marriage, only once seriously, but they both liked the idea of settling down together once they got a little older, of course that conversation had taken place just after his fifteenth birthday.

As he came up on the village the Trazens called home, he hoped that the people would still recognize his black on red König Wolf. Melody had seen the base more than anyone in the crew had in the last year, Razor and Luna were a close second and third. The black haired man jumped from his cockpit on the outskirts of town and a few of the kids came running.

He ran around and played with them for a while, enjoyed a quiet meal at the local restaurant before heading back to alpha for the night. Blaze had been too tired from the journey back to join him, but Wolf was just too wired about finally being back to stay still. When they walked down the long passage that led to the hanger Vailen's face popped up on the com screen.

"Hey there Ghost, good to see you finally made it back," the older blonde replied with a chuckle.

"Yeah well I needed a break so I decided to come visit," Wolf replied with a chuckle of his own, "Who's in?"

"Right now just the Trazen Defenders, you're the first of the Pack to come in," Vailen replied with a smile, "Melody should be back in a day or two and the sisters are all finishing up their latest jobs so they should be here within a week or two."

"Good to know, how did we fair?" The blue eyed young man asked with a more serious tone.

"Could probably sit on our duffs for three months and still be solid if the numbers on the sister's last jobs are right. Can pull off at least two as it is now."

Wolf couldn't help but smile at that as the König walked into the massive hanger. The young man maneuvered the Zoid to its usual spot and began the shut down checks, he chuckled quietly to himself when he saw his weapons stores. A year without seeing home base and he'd only fired five shots as a courier.

"Only five shots? No way, that's gotta be wrong, you fired more than that as a defender with us," Razor said with a confused look as he stood on the egress platform.

"I can account for every one of the five that weren't fired as a defender," Wolf replied calmly, "Two of those were on an Imperial test range for sight checking purposes, the third was a small Molga driver who thought it a good idea to shoot at me, the fourth and fifth both went to a client who thought he could rip me off."

"How could that be though, we reloaded you every time after you worked with us," the green eyed man said with plain confusion.

"I told you the count fired with you, not the number needed to fill the hold."

"But they never loaded it at a base?"

"Never at one long enough, even during my overnight stays they'd have to get to her ammo hatches without, you know, dying."

"Well how about you and me kill some of those shots tomorrow on the long range?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Wolf climbed out onto the platform and Blaze uncurled himself and moved onto the platform from his usual spot on the König's back. Both of them were pretty burned out but Wolf had just enough left to get a good long shower before climbing into bed and sleeping clean through the rest of the day and well into the morning of the next. He met Razor and Vailen on the long range field just after lunch.

"Mobile or stationary?" Razor asked as he moved his black and white Zaber Fang to one side of the König.

"I'd go for stationary today Wolf, you slept a long while," Vailen said as his jade green Zaber Fang moved to the other side of the wolf, Tyrant and Blaze wrestling playfully just behind the massive cat.

"I'll take mobile just to shut you up Vailen," Wolf replied with a taunting laugh, "And just to make it fun since I've got full stores, twenty targets a round."

"You're on kid," the oldest of the three replied with a smirk.

Wolf's first twenty targets went down fast, Razor's first twenty only slightly faster than the young man's, but both only used twenty shots each, Vailen took twenty two shots his first round and a short time longer than his brother and crewmate. The three men increased the distance between themselves and the targets, waiting a few minutes while Tango and Lemur reset the targets for them.

Wolf started in on his second set and was about five shots in when a shot rang out from beneath the König's feet scaring the Zoid and him both. Before Wolf could react to what was going on he could feel the cockpit being violently shaken by something, when he looked up all he could see was the back of a Zoid.

"Umm, someone explain why I'm looking at a Zoid's back, please," Wolf said with a highly confused tone.

"Your wolf picked up a Heldigunner after that wild shot from between her front legs, she's got it by the guns," Razor replied with a bewildered look on his face.

"Let's take it back in, that way whoever's in that thing won't get far without explaining themselves," Vailen said as he turned his Zoid back towards the hanger entrance.

Wolf turned his König slowly and followed the green Zaber Fang back into the base, Razor took a moment to call Tango and Lemur back in before following the other two. Once they were all back in the base and Melody finished her landing, the König Wolf let the Heldigunner simply fall from her jaws. Razor and Vailen met the pilot with drawn pistols as they opened the cockpit.

"Who are you and what makes you think what you did was okay?" Valien asked once there was a gap to be heard through.

"I was just passing by, geez it's not like I shot anyone," a woman's voice replied.

The cockpit opened far enough to reveal a woman with silver hair and a pistol of her own pointed towards Vailen. Wolf, Melody, Tango and Lemur all four had pistols in their hands before the cockpit finished swinging open and Blaze and Tyrant had moved closer to the Zoid.

"You may not have shot anyone out there, but you don't put that gun down you'll be the one bleeding," Razor said drawing the woman's attention to the rest of them, "We'll ask again, who are you and how did you find our range?"

"I detected weapon's fire, just went to check it out, saw the range and couldn't help but take a shot," the silver haired woman said as she lowered her gun slowly back into the cockpit seat.

"Scared the hell out of my Zoid lady, not cool anyway I look at it," Wolf said as he holstered his pistol, "You want trouble, you'll find more than you can deal with in just me you do that again."

"Who the hell are you people?"

"We asked first lady," Tango replied, lowering his pistol but not holstering it, "You answer us, we'll answer you."

"My name is Tiffany Burk," the silver haired woman replied with a cold tone, "Now answer me."

"Lady you've got a lot to learn about manners," Lemur said with a chuckle as he slipped his gun back into its holster, "We're the Trazen Crew."

"That is such bullshit," Tiffany said with a cold smirk, "Trazen crew wouldn't be standing out in a desert shooting targets, they'd be off raiding the military."

"Lady, I'd smack you senseless if you had any in the first place, you're standing before six of the nine current members of the Trazen crew," Wolf replied with a cold tone of his own, "And I don't like being called a liar after someone scares my Zoid just because she wants to."

"You keep harping on that little man I'll take you over my knee, it happened, let it go!"

"You couldn't touch me to try it bitch," the black haired man said with an ice cold tone, his eyes slowly turning red.

"Ghost, go take a walk," Razor said as he stepped between the newcomer and Wolf, "Take Bomber with you, we'll handle this."

"That's right kids, listen to babysitter," Tiffany shouted as Wolf and Melody left.

"Tiffany, you need to shut up, you're sitting in a bad place for you right now, three people here are pissed as fuck at you, two of them still have guns in their hands," Vailen said with a calm tone, "If I were you, I'd think twice then speak instead of insulting the people with guns."

"Listen buddy your pal just wrecked my weapons pack, so either he pays for the new one or I go find the authorities in that little town close to here and tell them where you are."

Tango and Lemur started laughing out loud as both Razor and Vailen got an evil look in their eyes that Tiffany seemed to back up a half step at.

"Go ahead, we'll even ferry you out there since your Heldigunner seems unable at the moment," Razor said with a confident tone.

"What the hell has you so cocky? You act like you run the place," Tiffany replied with an annoyed tone.

"In a way we really do, that village is our home," Tango replied as he got his laughter under control, "We're the security detail," he added waving a finger between himself and Lemur.

The silver haired woman's jaw fell open as she stared at the black haired man and the man with three red streaks on either side of his head. Razor got her to get out of the Heldigunner's cockpit before she started asking to join up, the blonde accepted on the condition Tiffany did not do anything as reckless as shooting from under a senior member's Zoid again.

"You let her join?!" Wolf shouted when Razor broke the news to him and Melody in the small arms range area.

"We need the hands Wolf, pulling legit jobs, no matter how many isn't getting us med supplies and I want a full crew if we have to hit something again," the older blonde replied seriously, "Besides, it gives you someone to boss around besides your sisters."

"Razor that woman is only joining us for glory, we're not crewed for the kind of hits she's probably expecting," the black haired young man said as his deep blue eyes slowly shifted to red showing how angry he really was, "Damnit, the woman thought the fucking idea to shoot from under someone's Zoid was cool for gods sakes! The Pack would never do something that idiotic."

"I understand that she needs refinement, but she did make that shot," Razor replied calmly as he shifted a half step back and out of Wolf's reach, "But Wolf even you have to understand that if just one of our combat team goes down, we've got no backups right now, if she manages to make it a month then we'll have one."

"Since when does anyone on this team fall short of being able to handle four to one odds?" Melody muttered from her place next to the ammo locker.

"It's not about being able to face the odds Melody, it's about being able to keep the damn team going with the same odds."

"Razor, the woman pulled a gun on you and Vailen a few minutes ago, she's already on my 'do not trust' list," the brown haired young woman replied, "I don't care if it evens out the team or not, she doesn't belong here."

"Tango said the same thing, but I can't stress the point of being understaffed at the moment any further than I already have, she's in."

Razor didn't give them a chance to reply as he spun on his heel and left the range. Wolf spun his 'two year anniversary' gift from Razor and Vailen to point down range before unloading the pistol in near record time. It was the pistol Razor had bought for him to carry on his courier jobs, but the blonde insisted on calling it his two year gift despite only having been with the crew about ten months when giving it.

The black haired man was a little shocked to hear a second pistol firing and the target next to his filling with holes. He also was a little shocked to see that Melody had come two points away from scoring higher than he had.

It took nearly a week after the rambunctious Heldigunner pilot's arrival for Tammy, Luna and Sarah Beth to get back. Wolf had to brief his sisters personally since the desert camouflage Zoid had been quite the shock laying in the floor near the hanger entrance. Tammy was happy to hear they'd gotten a new girl in the team that she might be able to talk to, Luna and Sarah Beth, like their adopted brother, were suspicious of the woman with silver hair.

"Wolf, can you and Melody handle the village tour now that the whole crew's been introduced to our new hand?" Razor asked as he walked up to the young couple as they sat on the König's paw.

"Only if no one else will, you know how I feel about her Boss," Wolf replied with a serious tone.

"I'm asking you two for exactly that reason, we're on vacation but everyone spends it their own way, I don't even know where the sister's vanished to," the blonde replied with a chuckle.

"I do, don't worry on it too much," the blue eyed young man replied as he scratched the scar that went across his right eye, "I'm not allowed to say though so don't bother asking."

"We'll do this since no one else is around, but don't expect a happy return," Melody said with a serious tone, "I just don't like this woman."

"You don't like her because she shot your boyfriend's Zoid into a frenzy with him in it," one of the mechanics close by said with a laugh as he walked on by.

Melody ignored the man and started towards her Pteras before Wolf stopped her and jabbed a thumb at the cockpit of his König. Blaze went along and was stopped a group of kids who seemed determined to give him a wash and wax which had Melody and Wolf laughing as the black and red Organoid playfully made it difficult for the children while Tiffany watched confusedly from a little further away with her nose turned up a bit.

Wolf and Melody both watched with mild disgust as the silver haired woman walked through the small town with her chest stuck out, back straight as a board and an air of superiority about her. She picked up a few pieces of fruit from the market place without paying, eating them as she continued on her way. Melody covered two of her impromptu picks while Wolf was forced to cover the other one by the proprietor.

Wolf gave a quick gesture to Melody and she turned the three of them out toward the Heldigunner and the König Wolf so they could talk a little. Tiffany managed even still to stir a little trouble among the locals when she wouldn't stop for a passing group of children heading to the outskirts to play; walking straight through causing two of them to fall.

"I'm gonna try and be nice since we're going to be working together," Wolf started as he leaned against his Zoid's paw, "But, if you walk through town like that Tiffany, you'll stick out like a sore thumb and draw the wrong kind of attention."

"And to add to that," Melody said cutting off the silver haired woman's reply before it even started, "The fact that you just picked up all those fruits you ate as a snack or whatever, we don't thieve from our home or bowl kids over just because we're bigger."

"We cover these people's asses, we should get free stuff," Tiffany replied quickly as if to keep from being cut off again, "And what's wrong with drawing a little attention?"

"We don't cover these people's asses, we cover their livelihoods, their farms, their medicine, and occasionally what food they get," Wolf growled as he took a half step closer to the older woman, "If you could see passed your own damn nose you'd see these people don't have much to simply 'give' things to anyone."

"Let's get back, obviously she's not gonna get it this trip Wolf," Melody said before she started climbing up the König's leg.

Wolf followed her and Tiffany jumped into her Heldigunner and followed them back to alpha base. When they got there Tango led Tiffany out of the hanger on the boss' orders while Razor and Vailen sat down with Melody and Wolf in the briefing room.

"How did she do?" Razor asked bluntly as he took his seat at the head of the table.

"She actually managed to set off one of the fruit vendors in town to the point I had to pay him off instead of him taking Melody's money," Wolf replied with a serious tone, "She also drew every bit of attention she could get right to her, I swear if she'd stuck her chest out any damn further she'd have fallen over backwards."

"She also thinks we should be taking advantage of our position as the town's protectors," Melody added, rolling her eyes at the idea, "And that we should draw a mass of attention to ourselves."

"Doesn't exactly surprise me about the attention grabbing bit, but the thieving from our own home is something even normal bandits wouldn't do," Vailen replied in his brother's stead, "Razor, we can't keep her on if she's going to cause that kind of problem around home."

"Wolf I'll put her under your command, she can play courier for a while, maybe that will let her see what we really are," Razor said with a slightly worried tone, "If she thinks we're in this for the money then we need to fix our reputation, we're thieves for the helpless, not ourselves."

"Our reputation says that we take all jobs, she must think that means that protecting our home is a job," Melody said with a worried tone of her own, "Razor, I'm with Vailen, we can't keep her on despite the need of an extra hand."

"Until someone else comes along we have no choice," the emerald green eyed man replied seriously.

"I say we ask Hawk to come back on temp duty, I don't like the guy but at least it would give us a hand if we needed a good fighter," Wolf said with a serious tone as he leaned back in his chair.

"He's been playing body guard to the village the last few months since next to none of us were here, he's earned his leave of the team for a little while especially since he's supposed to be retired," Vailen replied with a serious tone, "But if things get desperate enough I'm sure he'll help Razor."

"I don't doubt he would, but I can't pull him back in when he was so adamant to leave," Razor replied honestly as he let out a long breath, "I'll talk to Tiffany personally, Wolf I want you there so she knows we're serious."

"Hey, Tammy, Luna, Sarah Beth and Melody are enough to keep the business running, I just cleared Sarah Beth to carry top secret so she can make the military runs I'm known for," the black haired man said with a slightly raised tone, "I don't want that woman under me because if she shoots someone for no reason other than being a damn psycho I'm on the hook!"

"I know that Wolf! But I can't keep this crew undermanned, we need new people to fill the gaps left by my wife and Hawk."

"Razor I get that but I've met some folk that are way better in attitude than this woman on my runs, hell those Dibison boys we ran that convoy with after Vanessa died would be better."

"If you can get those guys to run a job with us I'll gladly give them a cut, but I think you'd be reaching for a hope. For now Tiffany stays and she's on your squad."

Wolf slammed a fist into the steel table top and walked out of the briefing room, his eyes a smoldering red. Melody followed him after a couple more minutes of trying to talk the leaders out of it. Vailen was little help because of both a want for new hands and a dislike of the newest member. When the brown haired woman caught up with Wolf, he and Blaze were going at each other in what could only be seen as a real fight if she hadn't known the two.

Wolf dodged the black and red Organoid's tail and slammed a foot hard into Blaze's massive metal hip without flinching as the pang echoed off the walls. The Organoid retaliated with a hard swipe with his short left arm that the black haired young man dodged. Blaze followed through the failed arm swing using his head to send Wolf sprawling when it met his chest. Melody was shocked to see her boyfriend simply flip back to his feet and charge the Organoid with a fist drawn back.

"He really does spar with the Organoid," Luna said from beside the brown haired woman, "I'm impressed."

"If you'd seen what the new hand did in town, you'd understand why he's sparring with Blaze," Melody replied just as Wolf landed a hard left cross to Blaze's jaw.

The blow didn't even make the Organoid stagger but the metal pang from the blow echoed a little longer than the kick had. Wolf was so focused on his fight with Blaze he didn't notice that everyone in the crew had gathered around to watch, or that his sisters had even returned. The black haired young man landed two kicks and a pair of jabs to the Organoid's chest plates making Blaze take a single step back during the assault.

"Damn that kid can land some blows," Tango said with a chuckle as he ran a hand through his red streaked black hair.

The whole of the Trazen crew, minus Tiffany, watched Wolf for another ten minutes before Blaze landed another head swing blow and also managed to catch Wolf across the chest with his tail in the follow through sending him sailing for a good ten feet before he hit the ground. Melody was the first one to the black haired young man as he caught his breath on the floor.

"Are you alright?" the hazel eyed young woman asked with a worried tone as she looked him over for injuries.

"I'm alright, he got lucky that time though," Wolf said with a tired chuckle, "No cuts this time though so I'm better than usual."

*He usually can't get out of the way of my tail blades, he was upset enough for his reflexes to get him out of the way this time,* Blaze growled with a hissed laugh as he walked over to his friend and master.

"Deal with it Blaze old boy," the black haired young man said with a laugh as he got to his feet, "You lost this round."

"You ended up on your ass, and he lost?" Tango asked with a chuckle.

"Yup, I landed more blows this time, plus, no blood."

"You could count the hits at the rate you two were moving?" Melody asked as looked at all the scuff marks in Blaze's paint.

*He's had plenty of practice, something close to twelve years of sparing,* Blaze replied as he and Wolf started towards the door of the sparring room.

Tango and Lemur went their own ways towards the small arms range with Razor and Vailen. Tammy, Luna and Sarah Beth went to unload their haul from where ever it was they were with the crew's mechanics. Wolf, Blaze and Melody all headed out towards the med room on the brown haired woman's express orders.

"Is there a reason I'm getting the hands on version of an x-ray?" Wolf asked with a chuckle when she slid a hand along the side of his bare chest.

"I'm checking to be sure you didn't break anything, my job as Trazen medic and your girlfriend," Melody replied with a serious tone as she switched to the other side.

"Last time I broke a bone in a spar with Blaze I deserved it," the black haired man replied with a chuckle as he stopped her hand with his, "I'll be a little sore later, but other than that we're both pretty well in all the pieces we're supposed to be in."

"I've checked you out after every training session this will be no different, if a little more thorough since you were fighting with an Organoid," the hazel eyed young woman said with a stern tone as she removed her hand from his grasp.

*Melody, we've done this before, we know how to pull our punches so Wolf doesn't get hurt severely,* Blaze added calmly, *Besides, if the König is still standing in the hanger then you have nothing to worry about.*

"He broke seven ribs a little over a year ago, I'm sure your buddy would like to keep them in one piece Blaze."

Wolf finally grabbed both of Melody's hands and looked into her eyes as she tried to pull them away. It took him only a second to take both her wrists into one hand and raise her eyes chin with the other and lay a deep kiss on her lips. Blaze stepped out before the couple came up for air, closing the door with his well scuffed tail and walking back out to the hanger.

*Tyrant, where are you when I need a playmate that won't scuff my paint?* Blaze growled as he walked under the König Wolf and curled up hearing footsteps not too far behind him.

"Blaze, what's going on bud?" Wolf asked as he stepped under the König and sat down next to his Organoid, "Left in kind of a hurry there."

*Didn't want to be in the way Wolf,* the black and red Organoid answered without uncurling.

"Pal, you're never in the way," the black haired man said with a warm tone as he stroked his friend's armored back.

*Say that when you two are getting carried away in the med room.*

"Blaze, you've saved my ass in more ways than one and more times than I want to count over the last eleven years, and as much as I don't like admitting it, you leaving saved my ass from getting way more than carried away just now."

*Trying not to rush things?*

"Neither she nor I are ready for that step, and it would delay our leaving if we took that step now."

*Leaving? For what reason?* Blaze asked, his head popping up in curiosity.

"Got a training mission with Tiffany, you and I are going to run block for her first courier job," Wolf replied with a shake of his head, "Razor told her earlier while you and I were sparing."

*This new hand doesn't seem to like you much, I can't wait to see how she does in a professional situation.*

"You and me both pal, you missed the show in town, she was down right ready to kick anyone's ass who stayed in her way."

*When do we leave?*

"You've got one hour to handle the load up of the König before we leave base, you and I are going to spend a whole two weeks with the new Heldigunner pilot," Wolf replied sounding none too thrilled about the idea.

The König Wolf and the Heldigunner tore out of alpha a few minutes after the hour had passed, delayed by Tiffany's open reluctance to take orders from a man just shy of ten years younger than herself. About a day and a half into their run to Guygalos, Wolf was actually starting to enjoy the silent treatment from Tiffany, he'd spent most of the first day briefing her on how she needed to act since this was a legal job and a real business that he ran. That briefing had gotten him chewed up one wall and down the next by the silver haired woman. The silence was enough for him to turn on the König's autopilot and take a nap for a while.

"Wolf, I have an honest question," Tiffany's voice played through his radio just before sunset as they clamored for all the distance they could get from the day.

"If it's relevant to this situation, feel free," the blue eyed young man replied with a serious tone.

"It's not, but I'll ask politely," the silver haired woman chuckled, "Why aren't any of the people back at base afraid of that dinosaur of yours?"

*Because I'm kid friendly, and they've seen one of my kind before,* Blaze growled with a rather intimidating edge, *And I'm not a dinosaur, I'm an Organoid, don't slip twice.*

"Yes, he just threatened you, I'd take him seriously, he's very proud of his origins despite not remembering some of them," Wolf said when he heard the woman stammer, "A slip like that around Tyrant and you wouldn't have gotten a second chance."

"Who the hell is Tyrant?"

*Another Organoid in the Trazen crew,* Blaze replied as the König slowed to a halt as the last of the light left the sky.

The two Zoids settled in, Wolf choosing to eat one of the MREs he kept in the cockpit rather than interacting further with Tiffany. The rest of the trip to the little village they'd been hired by went with peaceable, if short, conversations. When they got to the edge of the village Wolf did most of the talking, collecting both the package for delivery and the money; fully paid up front since they wouldn't be returning to alpha on the same route.

The trip to Guygalos was quieter than the silent treatment and Wolf loved every minute of it since he could practically feel Tiffany brooding in her cockpit. The silver haired woman had refused to make the pick-up in the village so adamantly that Wolf trapped her into making the drop off, especially since it was supposed to be her job.

"Alright, when we get there, you're the one doing the talking, I'm just the body guard," Wolf said as the two of them walked through Guygalos.

"I know, what about the Organoid? He sticks out like a sore thumb," Tiffany muttered as she stopped to check a sign on a building.

*If you haven't noticed, I'm not actually behind you,* Blaze growled through the ear pieces for their radios, *You've got two blocks left, and you're on the wrong side of the street.*

The sudden jerk of the silver haired woman's head had Wolf holding back a laugh when he saw her eyes get bigger too. The black haired man gave a simple shrug when she gave him a slightly panicked and very confused look, Wolf was a little disappointed that she never once looked up higher than building signs.

"Blaze, hang out on the roof, let us know if anyone unfriendly appears to be heading our way," Wolf muttered into the mic just before entering the building behind Tiffany.

Watching the silver haired woman slowly disarm herself for the guards was just a little entertaining for the black haired young man since he'd never made a play at hiding his weapons. When she finally finished they let her pass through the check point, but the look she gave Wolf when he simply stepped through without taking the gun off his thigh would have frozen hell itself.

"Why do I have to disarm and you don't?" the silver haired woman asked angrily as they rode the elevator up.

"Because I'm permitted to carry this as an official military level courier, you don't have that status," Wolf replied simply just before the doors slid open, "Just remember not to let your anger show with the client."

"You could have gotten me that status so I could keep my guns."

"You earn that status with me lady, now do the job at hand," the blue eyed young man muttered angrily as he turned his back to the proper door for her to enter.

Wolf didn't talk to the workers and they barely acknowledged his presence at all until a crash came from the office behind him. He was through the door, gun drawn and aimed at the floor before anyone else outside seemed to react at all. Tiffany was standing over the man in the office, his nose bleeding profusely as he searched his jacket for something to stop it.

"What the hell did you do?" the black haired man asked pointedly as he stepped over to the desk to help the guy, his eyes falling solely on Tiffany.

"She didn't do anything young man, I landed in my seat wrong and it over turned," the man said through his hand, as he took the offered rag Wolf pulled from his boot, "Reacted almost before it happened though, she's fast, just not fast enough to stop a clumsy old chap like me."

"Well, I'm sure some of your hands have already called for assistance, we'll get out of the way," Wolf replied with a kind tone and a quick gesture to Tiffany.

"You work for me, we'll stop by the licensing place on our way out of town." He said when they were in the elevator, "But you so much as think about turning a job down because of your not wanting it or some other bullshit reason, you'll wish I'd left you to Blaze."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It didn't take long for Tango, Lemur and Wolf all three to get a little restless after a month at home. Tiffany had finally started proving she could be more of an asset than a pain in the ass. Vailen set them up with a med supply run since their usual delivery guy wouldn't come to the border while it was a hot zone.

"Well, it's been a month since Tiffany joined up, what do you think of the new rookie Ghost?" Tango asked from the skies above the black and red König Wolf.

"She's working well with Tammy, but that's about the extent of my nice opinion of her," Wolf replied with a chuckle as the three men powered towards the pick-up point for the supplies.

"Hey, at least she's mellowed some," Lemur replied with a shrug, "She takes orders well… well better than she used to anyway."

"It's too easy Lemur, she's trying too damn hard for me to think it's real," the blue eyed young man replied with a more serious tone, "She's trying something, what her endgame is I don't know, but I don't like it."

"You've got seniority in the crew despite you just turning seventeen yesterday, she can't take your place so what do you think she could be after?" Tango asked with a rare, but equally serious tone.

"I'm not worried about her taking the crew, Tyrant alone would stop that from happening. I think I've just caught your paranoia."

"Good, we're on the drop point, sights clear trailer's waiting as promised," Lemur said as his Redler spiraled overhead.

Wolf was quick to hook the tow cables to the König's jaw and make some dust, he'd grown to distrust the open desert in his time with the Trazen crew and even more so in the year he'd spent solely being a courier. When the three men made it back Tiffany was raising all kinds of hell as they re-entered the hanger. The silver haired woman was shouting her lungs out at Sarah Beth and Luna, Tammy, though standing beside her sisters, didn't appear to be in the line of fire.

"What the hell is going on here?" Wolf shouted as he jumped from his cockpit, hitting the ground running to at least Tiffany's mild surprise.

"These two expect me to learn how to fight from them," the silver haired woman shouted with a gesture towards the blue haired sisters.

"What's the problem with that?" Tango asked with a smile over Wolf's left shoulder, "It is part of their duties to the crew to teach hand to hand combat and stealth techniques."

"But I know how to fight, I don't need to learn more."

"Everyone needs to learn more, if only to keep up with new opponents," Luna replied seriously as she pulled her long blue hair into a pony tail.

"Oh like you could teach me anything," Tiffany shot back with a sarcastic tone forcing Wolf to step between two of his sisters and the new hand.

"Tiffany, I want you to listen close," the black haired man said as he turned to face her, "You're going to spar with at least one of these two women or you will spar with me and I don't hold back."

"I'll take the younger one," the silver haired woman said with an annoyed tone pointing at Luna.

"Alright, meet all four of us in the sparing room in a few minutes, I want to talk with my sisters first," Wolf said with a serious tone gesturing to the rarely used over flow storage area just off the hanger.

Tiffany left the small group standing there, Tammy looking a little less than pleased as she stood next to Wolf. The four of them talked for a moment about the session before Wolf left them to get his workout clothes. A few minutes later every member of the Trazen crew filed into the storage area they used for sparing sessions, Tiffany did not look pleased about the larger than expected audience.

"Don't look so miffed Tiff, we need to see what you can do to," Razor said reading the look on the woman's face.

"Don't call me Tiff," the silver haired woman replied as she slid into a fighting stance facing Luna.

Blaze and Tyrant stood facing each other across the fighter's path as referees and if necessary, fight enders. Tyrant growled at each of the girls before dropping his short arm between them to signal the start.

Tiffany was sluggish from the start, her moves meant more for brute strength over speed where Luna was landing any quick blow she could while dodging the slower heavy strikes. Wolf and Tammy were on the sidelines whispering back and forth about different tells the silver haired woman had like her shoulder dropping before she threw hooks and the visible balance shift before kicks.

After barely three minutes Tiffany hit the ground hard because of Luna's nearly famous high kick landing just at the base of her neck. The silver haired woman didn't get back up until a nearly a minute later when she'd finally steadied her breathing.

"Okay, maybe there are some things I could learn," Tiffany admitted through a long slow exhale.

"This is why we ask to see what you can do, so we know where to start teaching," Luna said with a steady breath and barely a trace of sweat on her brow.

"Yeah, take our little brother there, he started out with a defensive base, knew very well how to shunt blows away from his body and a good many holds to keep his opponent secure but his body safe," Sarah Beth said gesturing to Wolf sitting with Tammy, "Now he's one of the top fighters on the crew because we added offensive techniques to his training."

"All of you, you've got jobs, get to them," Razor said with a chuckle forcing the rest of the crew to break up, "Melody, see to Tiffany's bruises would you please?"

Melody led the silver haired woman out of the small storage area, Tammy and Luna following shortly after for their own jobs while Wolf and Sarah Beth stayed behind with Razor. It didn't surprise the blonde that Wolf had been hiding well taped hands under the gloves he'd had on, it did shock him slightly that both Wolf and Sarah Beth looked ready to kill as the black haired young man stripped off his shirt leaving himself in only a pair of gym shorts.

"What's going on here?" Razor asked as the two slid into fighting stances, Blaze and Tyrant still playing referee.

"Just a little play time," Wolf replied with a slight growl just before Blaze dropped his short arm.

Wolf launched several failed punches before Sarah Beth could really retaliate and land a hard right hook to the young man's jaw. It only took a split second for the black haired man to recover and go back on the attack with more boxer style jabs and crosses that only met with Sarah Beth's arms. Sarah Beth switched up styles during her next attack as well, using more speed than force to land multiple blows to Wolf's exposed sides.

"Geez little brother, wake up already," the blue haired woman goaded as she dropped below a slow kick, "Stop holding back and taking a beating."

"Alright, just remember you said that," the black haired young man replied, his eyes almost immediately turning red.

Razor watched as the two danced around the storage room, dodging a few blows himself when they moved his way faster than he could get out of their path. When both fighters started to slow down and stopped moving around as much Razor decided to ask a few questions while both were still on their feet.

"So what do you think of Tiffany?" he asked causing both fighters to shift their gaze to him momentarily.

"She's a little slow to pick up on the idea that we don't do this for ourselves, she got pissed when I only gave her a quarter of what we made on that first courier job," Wolf replied as he ducked away from a heel meant for his chin, "She was only slightly less bitchy about what I thought was fair on her last job."

"Her general attitude could use a little tuning up too, we asked politely to see her skills, suggested that maybe we could learn from each other, she busted our ear drums," Sarah Beth added just before taking a hard left hook to the jaw that sent her way off balance for a few moments.

"She only did half the job she was meant to do on her first courier run, I picked up the package because she refused," the black haired man said through a short breath while his oldest sister fought to regain her balance, "Got pissed when I suggested she do the drop. I don't think she's liking what we really are."

"Okay, has she been on any range since her arrival?" Razor asked with a more serious tone forcing the fight to a stop.

"Not that I'm aware of, but I spend most of my free time with Melody in town lately," Wolf replied with a tired voice as he grabbed a couple water bottles, tossing one to Sarah Beth as his eyes shifted back to blue, "If she has at least Tango would have told me so I doubt it."

"What about you Sarah Beth, any word from our in house range bosses?"

"Nope, meaning she either hasn't been or she's been there without them, which isn't possible since only Tango, Lemur and Wolf know the combination to the ammo locker," the blue haired woman replied as she ran a towel across her sweat soaked brow.

"Yeah, we gotta fix that little detail, Melody wanted to practice while Tango, Lemur and I were on the med pick up," Wolf added with a chuckle as he too ran a towel through his hair.

Wolf led the three out of the storage area without bothering with his shirt before he sat down on the König's paw and started taking the tape off his hands. Razor and Sarah Beth both were a little shocked that he didn't seem to care about all the eyes on him at that moment.

"Razor I told you before this woman was bad for the crew, I know we need new hands, but she's not right for us," the black haired young man said as he finished up removing the tape from his right hand.

A whistle from the direction of Tango's Redler stopped any response when Wolf's head snapped that direction before looking to see Tammy, Melody and Luna all staring at him red faced while Tiffany looked a little mind blown. The black haired man shook his head a little before striking a muscle man pose for a few seconds making the rest of the crew burst out laughing as the three women turned even redder.

"Anyway, back to the topic at hand," he said once his back was to the rest of the crew, "We need to get the new lady on the ranges."

"You just put three of the girls in shock and you want to talk business?" Razor asked with a chuckle as he stepped to block his crew's view of the younger man.

"They're the ones blushing and staring like they haven't seen me without a shirt," the black haired young man said with a chuckle of his own, "Besides I'd rather talk business than pick on them."

"What are you folks talking about over here?" Tiffany's voice stopped Sarah Beth's reply as the silver haired woman walked up from behind Razor.

"You, and how you've not checked in on any of our ranges," the blue haired woman replied with a slightly annoyed tone.

"Well neither of the small arms range bosses have been here, so we can go do that now if you'd like," the silver haired woman replied with a snarky tone.

"We're talking about Zoid ranges too Rookie," Wolf said with a cold look in his eyes.

"Listen here squirt, I don't take orders from a kid that plays with toy dinosaurs, so back off," Tiffany replied angrily as she jabbed a finger at the black haired young man.

Wolf didn't even get the chance to react before Blaze had the silver haired woman on the ground, his long metal snout just inches from her face, his claws pinning her arms to the ground.

"He warned you about calling him a dinosaur Tiffany," Wolf said with a chuckle as the black and red Organoid ignored the woman's kicks to his tail.

*And I told you that if you called me that again, I would not be merciful,* Blaze growled as he slid his heel claw down the woman's arm.

Blaze dragged his heel claw back across the woman's arm opening up a long gash while the others just stood watching with practiced indifference as she screamed.

"Why aren't you stopping this monster?!" Tiffany screamed through tear filled eyes.

"You insulted him, why should we?" Sarah Beth replied just as Blaze started to move his other heel towards the end of Tiffany's other arm.

"You wouldn't be alive if Tyrant had heard that crack," Razor added as he knelt down to look the woman in the eye, "Listen close so I don't have to repeat myself."

"Blaze, hold only partner," Wolf said with a quick snap, the red and black Organoid stopping his heel claw millimeters over the woman's uninjured arm.

"Tiffany, we're a family here, you insult one of us, you insult all of us," the older blonde continued after Blaze shifted back to using his feet to hold the woman down, "You call Blaze here a dinosaur, you're calling all of us dinosaurs."

"Call my brother squirt again, I doubt he'll be merciful either," Wolf's oldest sister said with a cold stare of her own.

"So you can either cooperate or you can leave," the black haired young man finished for his boss and oldest sister.

"Fine, I'll go through your tests, just let me up!" the silver haired woman shouted just before Blaze shifted his weight and let her up.

"Was that so hard?" Razor asked with a slight chuckle as Tiffany got off the floor cradling her arm.

Tango took the silver haired woman over to Trisdale to get her arm stitched and bandaged before bringing her back to base. Tiffany gave Blaze and Tyrant both a wide birth as they made their way to the small arms range, making sure at least Wolf was between her and the two Organoids at all times. Only Tango seemed the slightest bit impressed by her shooting skills given she was using her injured arm, her scores were varied greatly across the three targets she shot, and mostly low. Razor and Wolf decided it best to hold off on the Zoid testing when Vailen informed them of a job that needed doing for the village's sake.

"Alright, we've got a four man job on deck, Wolf I want you to take your pack and hit this one on your own," Razor said with a serious tone as they sat around the table.

"What are we hitting?" Sarah Beth asked from her place on Wolf's left.

"A medical supply convoy, five guards, two trailers," Vailen replied without looking up from the paper in front of him, "Problem is, these are heavy guards, not what we're used to."

"What do you mean?" Wolf asked before his sister could, "Like Iron Kongs or something?"

"Republic equivalent, three Shield Ligers and a couple Command Wolves," the oldest blonde replied.

"I can live with that, what about you ladies?" Wolf said looking to his sisters, each of the blue haired women nodding their agreement, "We're on then."

"I'm going too," Tiffany jumped in before Razor could tell the others where they were going.

"If you go Tiffany it's to watch, with half payload for personal protection, you won't be in it," Razor explained, "We want this to look like someone from within the Republic hit this thing, that's why the ladies will be in the white wolves we took as payment for the last Trazen Defenders job."

"Wolf you've got two hours to get to delta and back to your rendezvous point, data is loaded go," Vailen said with a short gesture.

Wolf and the rest of the Ghost Pack team were out of their seats and well on their way to the hanger before Tiffany could react. The silver haired woman just stared at the door for a few moments before she tore off towards the hanger, Melody, Tango and Lemur trying to stop her.

"She's going to blow this if she gets in on it," Tango growled as the three of them watched as the Heldigunner ran up towards the base's main exit.

"Get my Pteras ready, I'm gonna have to make sure that doesn't happen, I'm gonna go tell Razor personally," Melody replied with an unsteady tone as she headed back towards the briefing area.

Melody took off ten minutes later and caught the main crew before catching sight of the Heldigunner. She radioed Wolf once she was right over his head and told him that she'd meet them at delta to keep Tiffany from leaving without an escort. The problem with that plan, the Heldigunner never came up for a little day light before Tammy, Luna and Sarah Beth were ready to make the run to the convoy rendezvous. About half way through the trip there was still no sign of the desert camouflage painted Zoid.

"Wolf, I'm not liking this, she'd have to tail you guys to know where to go, but I've got no sign from up here," the brown haired young woman said with a worried tone as she switched to yet another camera aimed at the ground.

"It'll be okay, even if she did she can't come up to do any shooting, too big a risk, it'd look like she's trying to hit the thing alone," Wolf's voice replied through the radio link between the two Zoids, "Now wish us luck and head for alpha, can't have you up there blowing our cover."

"Good luck Ghost Pack, and Tiffany if you're listening, please don't do anything stupid," Melody said with a resigned tone as she turned onto a different heading.

"Hey Melody, switch to private vid for a second would you?" Wolf's voice interrupted her thoughts, her hand's automatically hitting the proper switches.

"What's up?" she asked as she stared at the black haired young man's image on her cockpit glass.

"I'd like you to meet me and my sisters out in the village after we get back, leave when we call in, Valien will call you on the radio," Wolf said with a nervous smile.

Melody only nodded her agreement but Wolf was on cloud nine when they reached the designated rendezvous, ready to face all challenges with a smile. The proximity alarm in the König's cockpit went off breaking his concentration on what he would be doing after they returned home.

"Wolf, on your left, about three klicks out," Sarah Beth's voice said through his König's radio as the seventeen year old checked his instruments.

"Tiffany finally show up?" Wolf said before he even looked away from the panel to see the Heldigunner sitting on a dune.

"Looks like, we have a problem, she's in sniper position to take out the lead Zoid, and they'll likely see her do it too," Luna pointed out just as another alarm went off in her cockpit, "SHIT, convoy's ahead of schedule, we've got to move now before…"

Tiffany's Heldigunner popped off five shots in quick succession before she burrowed into the desert's loose sand.

"Damnit, I'm gonna kill her," Wolf muttered before turning his attention back to the job at hand, his eyes blazing red, "Go give that convoy a little hidden cover."

The sisters took their white Command Wolves and slid into the firing lines that had fanned out on either side of the convoy. In all the confusion it was not only easy for them to take a few pot shots at Wolf but to take out the other covering Zoids on either side. It didn't take long to for the sisters to handle the Command Wolves, but Wolf had to drop two of the Shield Liger's from behind from long range, which put a sour taste in his mouth when all was said and done.

"TIFFANY!" the black haired man screamed into the radio, not caring what it might do to ones listening in, "You get your ass up here NOW!"

The Heldigunner came out of the sand about ten feet from the König's left side forcing massive wolf to take a step right out of sheer discomfort. Tiffany's face popped up on the Zoid's cockpit glass with a wide smile on her face.

"Wipe that damn smile off your face woman, you cost us our cover and damn near got me and mine shot!" Wolf said, forcing himself not to reach up and punch the screen.

"Don't be so dramatic, they didn't even see you till it was too late, they were too busy focusing on me," the silver haired woman replied with an arrogant tone, "Matter a fact I probably made it easier to pull this off."

"No, you didn't, there was a reason we wanted to use Republic Zoids!" the black haired man shouted, "We were going to do this with no shots fired!"

"You can't do a heist without shooting things kid, maybe it's time you learned that," Tiffany replied before she dove the Heldigunner back into the sand and disconnected the radio.

"Get the cargo together, we're beating her back to the village, period," Wolf said with an ice cold tone as the König grabbed a couple of the tow cables attached to one of the med trailers.

The sisters followed without question, guarding their brother while keeping out of the firing radius of the rifles on his Zoid's back. They never radioed back to base, Wolf was too worried about getting back before Tiffany tried something while his sisters worried about him. Luna and Sarah Beth knew what was probably coming; even Tammy knew this would probably be the last nail in the silver haired woman's coffin, but none of them knew exactly if it would come to blows or not.

When they got back to the village Wolf simply dropped the cables and headed back to alpha as fast as the König could carry him, testing the new back mounted boosters and the fold out flaps between the front and back paws. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face as he was pinned to his seat, despite leaving his sisters to do most of the work.

"Tiffany gotten in yet?" the black haired young man asked into the radio as he came down the entry tunnel.

"Not yet, she radioed in about ten seconds before you came in, probably sitting at the door now," Vailen's voice replied calmly, "What's happened this time?"

"She's going to get the spanking she threatened me with," Wolf replied coldly as he entered the hanger and parked the König in her usual spot.

The König did something Wolf had never seen before as he tried to open the cockpit, she locked him in.

"What the hell are you doing?" Wolf asked angrily as he slid back into the seat.

The growl he got in reply was a cross between a hunting signal and a warning; his König was keeping him locked in till he calmed down a little. She even shut the power down to everything but the air conditioning and filtration systems.

"Oh come on, you really think I'm going to kill her?" the black haired man said with a chuckle, "You know better than that, but you know she deserves to get chewed out, she stuck her nose in where it didn't belong."

The König's reply was a short gruff that sounded a little like a sneeze.

"What do you mean she doesn't? She wasn't assigned to the job, that's reason enough to chew her out," Wolf replied with an annoyed tone, "Not to mention the fact she fired the first shot AND exposed her Zoid."

This time the König didn't reply for a few moments before letting a lengthy growl from its mechanized throat.

"You're not helping your case any, she exposed you and me in that second volley of hers, not to mention nearly hitting our sisters a few times."

The massive wolf seemed to think that one over for a few seconds before popping the seals on the cockpit, she didn't open it before flashing a message 'Forgive Youthful Mistakes' across one screen.

"She's older than you and me both König, youth has nothing to do with it," Wolf muttered as he climbed out onto the egress platform and jumped to the floor, landing right in front of the Heldigunner moving towards him, "You and I need to talk Tiffany."

It didn't take long for Tiffany to figure out that once you were on Razor's bad side for putting his crew in danger, you needed to run. The silver haired woman and Wolf had a screaming match for the record books before Razor got the whole story from the sisters. The blonde haired green eyed man flipped, screamed about loyalty, following orders, listening to suggestions, even threw in a little about making friends instead of stabbing them in the back out of arrogance. The Heldigunner pilot left the Trazen crew just shy of two months to the day that she joined, and she did so in one pissed off ball of fire, blowing up a couple of the crews food lockers before flying up the tunnel.

"Guess you were right about her Wolf," Razor said once the whole crew gotten the small fires under control.

"Yeah, didn't expect she'd go quiet, but this is just a little…ridiculous," Wolf said with a tired voice, "Melody, the sisters and I have got something in town tonight, think you can handle the inventory with Tango and Lemur?"

"Yeah, you guys earned a couple hours to yourselves, I wouldn't mind if you came back and helped though," the blonde replied with a chuckle, "Oh, before you haul off, when are you gonna ask Melody to get hitched?"

"Yeah, wouldn't tell you if I did ask man, you guys are too mushy," the black haired young man replied with a chuckle as he slapped his boss on the back, "And I've answered the same way the last three times you've asked so, you ought to give it up."

Wolf called Sarah Beth, Tammy, Luna and Melody into the hanger and they all loaded into their Zoids and headed into the village. The village preacher met them just outside town, standing directly on the border for the Helic Republic and the Guylos Empire.

"Where is everyone going to stand?" the preacher asked with a warm smile.

"I'll stand on the Imperial side, she can stand on the Republic," Wolf said taking Melody's hand in his and moving her to the spot on which she was supposed to stand before moving to the preacher's other side and facing her with a wink.

"I take it these three will be our only audience?" the older gentleman asked with a waved hand at the sisters.

"And they're our witnesses as well so, you're golden," Wolf replied with a chuckle.

"Alright then, We are gathered here at this place to join the citizens of two nations together in holy matrimony, and though they are of two nations they are of one heart, deeply in love with each other and ready to take this step into the rest of their lives as one," the preacher said with a wistful tone, "Do you Melody Rosten take Wolf Novis to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Melody said with a smile of her own as tears started to roll down her cheeks as Wolf slid a small steel ring onto her ring finger.

"Do you Wolf Novis take Melody Rosten to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"Forever and always," Wolf replied with a wide smile.

"I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride," The preacher said with a warm tone as he took a half step back from the couple.

Tammy and Luna cheered while Sarah Beth just tried to keep the tears forming in her own eyes in check as the newlyweds kissed. The five of them spent nearly an hour celebrating before the youngest of the blue haired sisters thought it a good idea to leave the newlyweds alone for the night.

"So Mrs. Novis, is it everything you thought it'd be?" Wolf asked as they walked through the village.

"Maybe not everything, but it was even more beautiful than I could have dreamed of," Melody replied as she leaned into Wolf's chest.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Right after Wolf and Melody returned to the Trazen Crew's main base shortly after their small wedding, Wolf was called into New Helic City for a courier job. He had a short discussion with Sarah Beth and Razor about not needing an extra protection Zoid since the Republic would be providing one. The black haired man kissed his new bride and tore out of the hanger as fast as the König Wolf could carry him and Blaze.

The nearly two week long trip into the Helic Republic's capital city was a new experience in boredom and heartache for Wolf as he thought about having been married for barely an afternoon before having to take off on a job. The only thing that really lifted his rather grim mood was the fact that the job paid nearly double any job he'd taken in the Guylos Empire and they'd never provided protection either.

When the black on red König Wolf finally arrived at what was left of the gates of Mt. Osa Base, the Republic appeared to be picking up the pieces from a massive attack.

"Guess we know why they needed a courier, communications must be out," Wolf muttered as they guards waved him through towards the city, "Blaze check ahead, I don't like surprises."

*On it boss,* the black and red Organoid replied before shooting off the König's back with a fan of red flame trailing him.

With no further interruptions Wolf arrived at the location given in the folder Razor handed him before he left. The building looked totally untouched outside, but inside the massive hanger there were wrecked Zoids off all kinds.

"Hanger boss, what did all this?" the black haired man asked once he was clear of his cockpit.

"Imperials hit us on two fronts a few weeks ago, not pretty," the boss replied, "You the courier?"

"Yeah, where do I need to go?"

"Capital building," the man replied flatly looking over the grey tunic and black pants Wolf was wearing, "You might want to change into something a little more formal if you brought anything, you'll be meeting the President of the Helic Republic."

"I'm just here to do a job, this is what I wear to do that job. Can you get me there from here?"

"Out the door you just walked through, hang a right and straight on till you're on the front steps."

Wolf turned around and headed back to his König to retrieve his weapon and the proper identification papers. As he walked the streets he noticed the wounded, the bruised and some medical centers set up in whatever open places there were. Blaze flew overhead with a direct line of sight on the capital building and his friend and master.

"Blaze, who do you think would die first if something like this happened at home?" Wolf muttered as to not draw attention to himself.

*Either home, I'd suspect the first one to shoot,* the Organoid replied through the radio in Wolf's ear.

"Damn right, but the next one would probably be the asshole behind the attack," the black haired man said with a chuckle.

*Will you tell the guys back at base you're married now?*

"No, Melody and I agree they'd worry more if they found out. Tango and Lemur aren't the type to leave well enough alone so let's hope they don't see the ring I gave her."

*Can't see how the whole damn crew doesn't know your name is Mike already, Melody has done well keeping that to herself all this time.*

"Melody just happens to think Wolf fits me better, that's all."

Wolf stopped at the bottom of the steps leading into the capital building, noticing the serious amount of security he was rethinking the idea of carrying his gun concealed. Blaze landed unnoticed on the rooftop to watch for trouble as his black haired partner made his way up the steps, hands raised, his papers in one, his gun hanging loose off the other. A quick flick of the wrist had Blaze on the ground a step behind Wolf and on guard.

"Gents, he's with me," the black haired man said when the guns went from aiming at Wolf to the Organoid.

"State your business!" one of the guards shouted angrily.

"I'm a courier, I was contacted about a job and told to come here," Wolf replied calmly even though he could hear Blaze getting ready to pounce at the nearest guard, "I have my identification and clearance papers right here," he added waving his right hand slightly.

One of the guards snatched the papers from his hand while another snatched the gun, nearly taking Wolf's finger with it. Blaze took a short lung towards the guard only to meet Wolf's fist before he got his momentum up while the other guard checked his papers.

"He's okay, give him his weapon back," the guard said with a slight growl as he shoved the papers back against Wolf's chest.

"Thank you, now can one of you show me which way I need to go from here?" Wolf asked as he gently took his weapon back from the guard and tucked it into the back of his pants.

The guard who'd checked his papers waved for them to follow and led them to the President's office door. The man knocked and waited to be granted entry from the voices on the other side of the doors. Wolf stepped through slowly and Blaze a moment behind him, to his quiet surprise no one in the room reacted to the Organoid.

"Madam President, this is the courier you requested," the guard said in a calmer tone than he'd used just outside the main entrance.

"Thank you, you may wait outside," the grey haired woman behind the massive desk replied with an easy tone.

The guard and half the people in the room filed out leaving Wolf and two others alone with the President.

"Young man I am President Camford, I have requested the services of the Ghost Pack courier company for one reason, you're small and rather insignificant, rather unnoticeable," the President said with a calm tone, "I don't mean this as an insult, but I need the papers I am sending with you delivered quietly."

"I understand ma'am, but if you want quiet, sending me alone would be a better idea over having a guard," Wolf replied as he mimicked an 'at ease' posture.

"Young man, you're the actual courier, I'm sending five teams out in separate directions to cover you, all will be guarded, to have a single Zoid unguarded would draw attention we don't want," the president replied calmly.

"Forgive my jumping to conclusions ma'am, my briefing file didn't include the other teams."

"You are quite forgiven young man, what is your name?"

"Wolf Novis ma'am, I own and run Ghost Pack."

"Well Mr. Novis, you'll be heading to three bases in the middle of the Republic's territory. I want you to take this journey at a leisurely pace, run it on the time table explained in your briefing."

"Yes ma'am, any villages along the way to restock supplies if needed?"

"I'm sure you'll make the first base before that is necessary Mr. Novis," a grey haired man in a uniform replied from the corner of the room, "By the way, your guard just got briefed with you," he added gesturing to the other man in the room with them.

"What do you pilot?" Wolf asked the third man.

"I'll be running in a Command Wolf for this mission," the young man replied from his place.

"Then I guess we're set," the black haired young man said as he readied himself to leave.

"The first half of your payment is waiting with my secretary at the hanger, and Mr. Novis, good luck," President Camford said with a concerned but warm tone just before the two made it to the door.

Wolf, Blaze and the guard assigned to him were well out of New Helic by the time night fell, Wolf, being a little paranoid, slept in his cockpit the whole trip. When they reached the first base Wolf's instinct to get moving to the next base was overridden by the President's orders to stay at each base for at least two nights. The black haired man actually got used to running with the Command Wolf his guard was piloting, despite the thing looking like a rundown wreck compared even to the König Wolf.

By the time they made the third base on the list Wolf was chomping at the bit to get this job done and over with, the fact he was even considering breaking the President's own orders had him a little worried, given it would affect his pay. At the third base the commanding officer debriefed both Wolf and the guard, Blaze had to stay with the König since she was starting to feel a little home sick herself.

"I received a file on you Mr. Novis, says you spent the first year months of Ghost Pack's life running around the desert without going home," the commander said with a light tone, "Feel homesick after that?"

"Not as much as this time around, first time I've been gone more than two weeks since then," Wolf replied with a chuckle, "Got used to being home with the family I guess."

"Happens to everyone, anyway, after tonight you'll be free of your contract, your pay is already separated from base funds, just need to get it out of the safe in the morning," the man replied, "Then you can rush back to that family."

"Thank you sir, but maybe you can tell me why this wasn't a rush job."

"All I was told is that I'd be the last to know what was going on, but since you're cleared I guess I can read you in. The three bases you've visited on this trip are New Helic City's new defensive line after Mt. Osa erupted and took the base with it."

"Right, well honestly that would put 'Rush' right on the top for me."

"Us too, but we seem to have time to kill at the moment, the Guylos Empire seems to be pushing back from the table for the moment."

As he left the base, Wolf thought about what kind of help the Helic Republic could provide for the Trazen's home village, or even what the Guylos Empire might do for it.

When the pair finally made it back to alpha nearly a month after the wedding, Melody nearly put Wolf back in the König's cockpit from the egress platform when she leapt to hug him. The first night back was spent talking with Razor and Vailen about what he could of the job and what news and supplies he'd picked up from the outside world. The second Wolf and Melody spent the night in Trisdale, Wolf sleeping on the couch out of sheer exhaustion more than habit.

"Who does the new Zoid belong to?" Wolf asked as the couple came back into the hanger.

"Don't know, never seen it before," Melody replied leaning over the seat to look.

Sitting in the space next to Hawk's retired Dark Horn was a Dibison, and a tall somewhat lanky red haired man having a pleasant conversation with Sarah Beth. The blue haired woman and the new person turned their attention to the König when she let out a threatening growl.

"It's okay Ghost, possible new hire," Sarah Beth called out as the massive wolf stared at the new man.

"I'll be down in a minute," Wolf replied through the speakers of the König before he moved her to her usual bay next to Melody's Pteras.

Once the couple was on the ground Sarah Beth came over, the stranger a pace behind the blue haired woman.

"Ghost, Bomber, meet Riton Pacer," She said gesturing at the two in order for the stranger.

"They call me Terror in a lot of places," the red haired man added as stared up at the König, "Never seen one of these this close, impressive animal."

The look of sheer terror that crossed Riton's face forced Melody and Wolf to look back, only to see Blaze standing just behind Melody's left shoulder. Wolf swallowed the laugh that tried its best to escape just before he heard a mechanical hiss and saw the other man's eyes get a lot bigger.

"This is Blaze, my Organoid, and this is my König Wolf," the black haired man said with a smile as he reached up and placed his hand on the Zoid's metal cheek, "She's friendly enough once she gets used to you."

"T-there's no one in that thing!" the red haired man sputtered through his obvious fear.

"No, but as long as she's been around she's developed a sense of humor, she likes to frighten people, lets her see what they're made of," Wolf replied with a chuckle.

"And since you're still standing here, you're already doing better than the last hired hand we brought on, and one of the longer hands," Sarah Beth added with a smile of her own.

"What happened to them?" Riton asked with an audible shake in his voice, keeping his eyes pinned to the König's massive nose.

"Tango, you'll meet him a little later, he's the longer hand, got chased all over our modest little hanger here," Melody replied with a laugh at the memory, "Tiffany, the last hired hand, fainted."

The König shifted its feet a little and Riton nearly hit the ceiling of the hanger as she tried to bump him with her nose. Wolf nearly died laughing as the man recovered leaning heavily on his Dibison's hoof, Sarah Beth and Melody on the other hand didn't seem to see the humor in it as they tried to calm the red haired man.

"Ghost, that was NOT funny!" Riton said once he'd calmed down a little, "Your Zoid just tried to eat me!"

That got Melody and Sarah Beth laughing nearly as hard as Wolf had been.

"No she didn't Riton, she was just going to give you a little love tap that's all," Wolf replied with a humored tone.

The König Wolf's tail was wagging slowly, her head down between her paws as she took on the look of a playful puppy, a rather unsettling image for such a massive machine and those unknowing of her personality.

"Boss is on his way back from town Ghost, Tango and Lemur are out on a run, Beta and Omega are sparing," Sarah Beth said as she regained her calm.

"Some reason you guys are using code names around me?" Riton asked as he settled into a more comfortable position on his Dibison's hoof, "And why I'm not allowed to leave the hanger?"

"Because if we didn't you could go and tell one or both of the nations where we are and who," Wolf replied with a serious tone, "As for the hanger bit; base is confusing, can't have you getting lost before you meet the boss."

As it turned out Riton had come to them in much the same way Wolf had, he was passing through on a bounty run and stumbled across the base's main entrance. He was looking to hire some extra hands for a share of the bounty on the criminal he was hunting. When Razor and Vailen got in, the sight of Tyrant, Vailen's jade green Organoid, nearly had the man on his butt. A little fast talking later and he'd hired Wolf and Sarah Beth for the hunt.

"So who is it we're looking for?" Wolf asked as the three of them packed up supplies in the hanger just before dark.

"A deserter," Riton replied as he set his box down on his Dibison's hoof, "He's also wanted for two hold ups and a few attack raids on villages around here," he added as he tossed a picture Wolf's way.

Wolf stared at the picture, memorizing every feature of the green haired man in it, before holding it up to show Blaze and his König. When the three Zoids tore out of the hanger it was well passed nightfall and Wolf was leading the way using his wolf's thermal imaging system.

"Why are we moving at night? This is when the really dangerous stuff comes out right?" Riton asked as they powered through the black.

"Yeah, but it also gives us the best chance of catching up if he is where you said he is," Sarah Beth replied from her fox painted Command Wolf.

"They call you Terror, how did you get a nickname like that if you're scared of the dark?" Wolf asked with a slightly teasing tone after a moment.

"Because normally I scare the people I'm chasing, not having the willies scared out of me by self aware Zoids," the red haired man replied with a slightly angry tone.

The rest of the night was spent in silence, Wolf and Blaze simply going to sleep in their usual places as the König powered on. They arrived at the village the deserter was supposed to be in late the next morning.

' _If this guy was headed on the reported path, he'd get to Guygalos in a few weeks time,'_ Wolf thought as they parked the Zoids.

"Riton, I got a feeling this guy isn't just a deserter," Wolf said as they walked through the streets of a small village asking a few people if they'd seen their target, "Also don't think he's responsible for the attacks on those villages."

"Why is that?" the red haired man asked quietly.

"You remember the village we passed right after leaving the base?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"That was the Republic Imperial border, we're nearly two days hard run into the Guylos Empire," Sarah Beth replied, "He's headed to Guygalos if Ghost is thinking the same thing I am."

"Treason just got added to your list of charges, let's find this guy fast," Wolf muttered, "Blaze, fly the village, see if you can spot him, I'm seeing a lot of black and blonde haired folks, green will stand out," he added into the radio mic on his collar.

Blaze took off from the König's back and flew over the village, he caught sight of the bounty hunter standing alongside Sarah Beth at a small café as he passed over, Wolf had moved across the street from them. He scanned everything he could put his eyes on, crisscrossing over the village several times before spotting a flash of green in the crowd below.

*Wolf, I think I've got him, green hair, proper height, can't see his face, he's keeping his head down,* Blaze growled as he hovered over the small crowd below, *Person of interest is headed your direction wearing black trousers and a red shirt, looks like he kept that part of the uniform if it is our guy.*

"Okay partner, say the word," Wolf's voice replied through his internal radio.

Blaze watched the green haired person for a few minutes before they actually moved out of the crowd and headed toward the café again.

*Forty-five seconds and he'll be on top of you if he doesn't change directions,* Blaze growled as he landed on a roof top to, literally, cool his jets.

"Roger that, I've got eyes on him, definitely our guy," Wolf muttered, "Riton, how do you want to do this?"

"Blaze, why don't you take him? Fly him to Zoids," the bounty hunter said with a devious chuckle.

*Oh I like this guy,* the Organoid replied with a chuckle as his assigned prey closed in.

Blaze shifted his footing and launched off the roof and plummeted the distance to the ground, nearly twice the height of the König's back. He landed solidly in front of the man, quickly clamping down on the front of his shirt with his powerful jaws and taking flight again.

"Way to go Blaze, nice grab," Wolf said with a proud tone, "We're on our way back."

Wolf, Sarah Beth and Riton made it back to their Zoids not long after Blaze landed with the prisoner, who having been taken by such surprise that he'd only started to struggle after they landed again. Riton cuffed the guy and read him the list of charges and added count of treason to the list as they loaded him into the König's back seat.

The trip back to into the Helic Republic grated on Wolf's nerves, the prisoner didn't shut up, screamed to be let go, for someone to have mercy, even talked about paying Wolf to just let him slip away. The black haired man finally got truly fed up and knocked the guy out with a solid right hook two days after they'd gotten back across the border. He'd been sorely tempted to just throw the unconscious man into the cargo space of the Dibison since Riton was carrying the water, Riton refused to clean up the mess that would make.

When the prisoner came back into the conscious world he was in the custody of the Helic Republic Army at a base just a few days away from New Helic city. The three captors were treated to a night on base to rest and clean up before finishing their journey. Blaze deciding it best to remain with the König, hidden from site since the base personnel seemed slightly paranoid around the Organoid.

"So what happens when we get to the capital?" Sarah Beth asked as the three pilots sat around a table in the officer's dining room.

"I'll pay you two your thirds and go my own way I guess," Riton replied with a shrug.

"She meant where do we go in the city?" Wolf said with a slight chuckle.

"Oh, straight to the jail, drop the prisoner, pick up the pay, sign a piece of paper and ask whose next," the red haired man replied with a smile, "The hardest part of bounty hunting is finding and catching the guys."

"Can't be steady pay, not to mention there's a lot of competition looking for the same people," Sarah Beth said after a few moments of quiet.

"It's not always steady, but most of the guys I get cover my expenses, I practically live in my Zoid so I don't have a house anywhere, no family, no real ties to anything but bounty hunting, so if I have money for food and ammo I'm pretty much good."

"And how many times have you run out of ammo for a month so you could eat?" Wolf asked with genuine curiosity despite the slight note of sarcasm in his voice.

"I haven't yet, not many people get into a tussle with a Dibison willingly, too many gun barrels," Riton replied with a chuckle, "Though I have had to scrounge a few grave yards for scrap to pay repair bills."

The two Trazen pilots exchanged a quick glance, Wolf only shrugging a nod at the silent question in his oldest sister's eyes.

"Why not join up with us, steady pay, no threat of running out of ammo, steady food supply too," Sarah Beth asked seriously, "And we've got a need for a new hand."

"I'll think it over, how about that?"

"Good enough for us, now let's sack out for the night," Wolf replied with a light tone.

"So, Alpha, where are you staying?"

"Anywhere but with you Riton," Sarah Beth replied with a chuckle as she followed Wolf out of the dining room.

The next morning Wolf and Riton retrieved their prisoner while Sarah Beth and Blaze dealt with the hanger boss and getting their Zoids ready to head out. As they walked the halls back to the hanger, Wolf and Riton were both armed, as were the two guards the base Captain had provided.

"What's up Terror, you're distracted," Wolf asked quietly.

"Just trying to find a way through Alpha's shell, she's cute, and funny, but she rebuffs any flirtation," Riton replied with an equally quiet tone, "Any suggestions?"

"Wasting your time asking me bounty hunter," the black haired man replied with a chuckle, "That's my sister, if you figure it out good for you, but if you hurt her, you're a dead man," he added with a more serious tone.

"You got a girl Ghost?"

"Maybe one day I'll tell you. If you join us that is."

The remaining trip into New Helic was quiet, except for the occasional plea for stretch breaks from the green haired prisoner. The three pilots and Blaze escorted the prisoner to the jail, Riton got the bounty money and they walked out, just like Riton had promised them.

"So where are you off to Riton?" Wolf asked once they'd reached their Zoids.

"No new bounties in, what would hanging out with you guys entail?" the red haired man asked as he readied his Dibison.

"Probably not much more than playing guard to couriers and transports right now," Sarah Beth replied with a chuckle.

"If you do come with us, there will be tests of your skills," Wolf added with a more serious tone, "Just in case we do have to partake in a little illegal salvage."

"I do not get you guys, you talk like protectors, but your rep makes you out as bandits of the worst kind," Riton said while shaking his head slowly, "Which is it?"

"Both," Wolf and Sarah Beth replied as one.

"I've got nothing better to do for now," the Dibison pilot said with a shrug.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Wolf led the whole way back to alpha, sleeping in his cockpit to let Riton Pacer a chance to sweet talk his oldest adopted sister. When they got back Melody nearly plowed right through Blaze trying to get at her husband. Wolf braced his legs and picked her up effortlessly in a bear hug that the brown haired woman happily returned as she leaned down a little to kiss him.

"Guess that answers my question Ghost," Riton said with a chuckle, "Now, I don't mind using code names on a job, but since I am joining the team, how about some introductions?"

"We'll get the rest of us down here before we start that up," Sarah Beth replied as she left the hanger to clean up.

"That include you two?" the red haired man asked the couple.

"For now, we're all in need of a shower, and I need a change of close," Wolf replied with a chuckle ask he set Melody back on the ground, "Come on, I'll show you where the rooms are."

"What about me Ghost?" Melody asked with a little pout.

"I need you to look at the wolf, stabilizer on the left front leg is acting weird, sensor might be out or something I'm not sure," the black haired man replied, "We'll leave when I'm done with the new guy."

"Ghost, that's cold man," Riton said as the two men left the hanger, "Get your ass back in there and make her weak in the knees."

"Terror, you have no idea how badly I want to do that, but now isn't the time. I've been away from that woman for nearly two months solid now, but I need to at least change clothes and I'm gonna be in charge of putting you through your tests so you best get something lightweight on."

"What are we testing?"

"Fighting skills in a Zoid, hand to hand, long range shooting skills, small arms skills, stuff like that."

"I'm gonna either be dead or dead tired by the time we get to bed aren't I?"

"Very likely, you can change in here," Wolf replied as he opened the door to Hawk's old room, "Hanger, fifteen minutes max."

Wolf pulled the door closed behind him and made a straight shot to his room and changed into his workout gear. He stopped at Sarah Beth's door, knocked and quickly received permission before walking in to discuss which of them would take Riton's check out fights and what training he would receive.

When the red haired Dibison pilot stepped into the small room just off the hanger he noticed several people he'd never met before. Among them were the two blue haired women standing with the woman he only knew as Alpha, and the two black haired men, one with three thin red streaks on either side of his head, standing next to them. With the man he knew as Ghost and young woman known as Bomber were two blonde haired men, one's hair worn short with a bed head look and a little stubble on his chin and emerald green eyes, the other with shoulder length hair and sea green eyes. The rest he recognized as the three mechanics he'd simply not been introduced to while in the hanger with Alpha before the hunt.

"Alright, I'll start this show since it would seem I'm responsible for you," Ghost said with a chuckle, "My name is Wolf Novis, I'm the courier, team sniper, and one of the top hand to hand combatants on the Trazen Crew. I also run the Ghost Pack Courier Company."

"I'm Melody N-Rosten," the brown haired young woman he'd known as Bomber said with a short wave, "Crew medic, mechanic and Pteras flyer."

Riton noticed that Melody had come very close to offering up a different last name and wondered just how close she and Wolf really were when he spotted a flash of silver on her left hand.

"My name is Sarah Beth Tillion," the blue haired woman known as Alpha said drawing his attention to the three blue haired women standing to his left, "These are my younger sisters, Tammy and Luna," she added gesturing to each of her sisters in turn, "We're the fighting instructors, you'll get to fight each of us some other time, but for now you can beat up on our brother."

"Wait a sec, if his name is Novis, and you three are Tillion, how are you brother and sisters?" Riton asked before anyone else could introduce themselves.

"We adopted him, he's saved every one of our lives," Luna replied calmly.

The red haired Dibison pilot simply nodded, though the confusion didn't quite leave his face.

"Don't try too hard to understand it, it's complicated, I'm Lemur," the black haired man standing to Luna's right said with a smile, "This is my cousin Tango," he added with a gesture at the man with red streaks in his black hair.

"What's with the hair?" Riton asked with a nod Tango's way before Lemur could finish his introduction.

"Those are my sergeant stripes," Tango replied with a wide grin, "As Lemur was about to say, we're the small arms instructors, we also run the protection detail that gets hired out of here once in a while."

"And we're both up for a good joke," Lemur added just before making a weird face for no apparent reason.

"Yeah, they're the clowns of the crew, but the best damn Redler pilots anyone's ever seen this side of Guylos military," Wolf said with a chuckle, cutting off Tango before he could start the joke he knew went with the face Lemur made, "Those two over there are the bosses."

"I'm Vailen, second in command despite being older," the older fellow with the shoulder length blonde hair said with a two fingered salute, "This is my brother Razor," he added laying a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Boss of the whole damn show," he said with a proud tone.

"Well, I'm Riton Pacer, bounty hunter known to some as Terror," the red haired pilot said with a nervous chuckle since the whole crew was now staring at him.

The whole Trazen crew stared in silence for a minute, making the Dibison pilot slightly uncomfortable since he was only wearing the loose shorts and tank top he normally slept in.

"Alright then, you're fighting me today," Wolf said with a sinister grin forming on his lips as he stepped into the ring and the rest of the crew found seats wherever they could.

Riton slid into a boxer style fighting stance; he got an uneasy feeling as he watched Wolf's eyes change color to a deep smoldering red while the younger man slid into a similar stance.

Wolf lunged without warning or hesitation, landing a hard right hook that spun Riton on his back foot and put him off balance long enough to send him toppling to the floor. The red haired pilot was back on his feet before Wolf could blink much less react to the hard left hook that met his jaw in the same instant. The black haired young man swung a hard left uppercut that put the Dibison pilot back on the floor before Riton could pull his arm back to block.

The red haired pilot could still feel his teeth rattling as he rolled himself to feet, shaking his head for a second once he was steady. He was surprised by the notes of both anger and shock in his red eyed opponent, but once again slid into a fighting stance.

"You hit like an anvil kid, I hope you don't hit me with another one of those, I'd be out for a week," Riton said with a chuckle.

"Little weak on the return but not bad yourself," Wolf replied with a cold smile.

"Off hand and a little off balance too," the Dibison pilot shrugged, "Your turn I think."

"You'll probably regret saying that," the König pilot replied as he slid back into his stance and motioned for him to come at him.

Riton could hear the well controlled anger in the voice of the young man, but had no idea what it could mean. The red haired pilot swung wild hoping for a solid hit but caught nothing but air, as Wolf ducked back a half step. The black haired young man planted his back foot and launched a half assed shoulder shove that Riton side stepped, right into the path of a wild right punch that caught him in the jaw.

The fight took on a whole new style as the two men started moving around the room, forcing their audience to move as fast moving fists and feet came their way. Riton chased Wolf out of the small workout room into the main hanger with a long reaching box kick. When the red haired man followed he caught the younger man with an unexpected left jab that drove Wolf against the paw of his König.

To her credit the massive Zoid never moved as her pilot blocked body shot after body shot. Wolf finally got his feet back under him and partly against the Zoid's paw. Using his new found footing the black haired man shoved himself into Riton's chest with as much force as he could muster, knocking the older man back into the small sparing room, following with a flying left when Riton started back into the hanger.

Riton was getting tired, he'd lost track of enough blows because of the feints Wolf started using after shoving the fight back into sparring room that he was having trouble breathing due to a countless number of blows to his chest. He could feel it in his bones that Wolf had only started to open up, but he wasn't about to surrender either. He swung wild with a heavy left, all he felt was the muscles in his arm quake when the blow hit something. Not two seconds later all he could feel was the cool stone floor under his back and legs.

"Damn," the red haired pilot heard someone muttered followed by several pairs of feet leaving the room and a couple more coming closer to him.

Wolf stared at the ceiling for a few moments trying to figure out just how he'd ended up on the floor as he caught his breath. He remembered ducking away from a right jab then his head spinning from a blow from the left, but he couldn't remember seeing the left blow coming. Tango stepped into view staring down at him with a huge grin on his face.

"You okay Wolf?" Tango asked with a well humored tone, "Or do I need to get Melody to take a look at you?"

"I'll be okay, but Melody can take a look anyway," Wolf replied with a chuckle as he forced himself to sit up.

"Yeah, you're okay," Melody said with a slightly sarcastic tone as she knelt next to him.

"Anyone catch the ID on that passing Guysack that ran me over?" the black haired man asked with a chuckle as the dull aches came on while the adrenaline wore off.

"That would be Riton's wild left," Tango replied with a chuckle, "He got lucky, you hit him, which added power to his hit that you dodged right into, you both went down."

"Tango, my brain's jumbled enough, you can shut up."

"He's telling the truth, your right hook spun Riton, which put his whole weight behind the left hook that nailed you square in the jaw," Luna said as she knelt down in front of Wolf, "That was a hell of a fight, you up to do more today or do you want to wait?"

"Ask him, I'm still in one piece."

Luna nodded and walked away, dragging Tango off by his collar all in the same motion. It took a few minutes for the two combatants to get back to their feet and some water in them to cool off and rehydrate. Sarah Beth walked Riton to his room so he could change cloths after Melody had checked both men for broken bones. Wolf stayed with his wife for a little bit just talking about what had happened while he and the others had been on the hunt.

When the major players of the crew were back together again with Riton among them, they were gathered in the small arms range. Tango and Lemur were busy setting up the weapons and targets they wanted to see Riton shoot, most of them pistols but there were a few automatic rifles among the collection as well.

"We'll take over for this part, so don't go looking at Wolf or Sarah Beth for confirmation," Tango said as his cousin cleared the last weapon and set two full magazines down next to it, "We pick, you shoot, simple as that."

Riton nodded his agreement and took the safety glasses and ear covers as he stepped away from the group. His first weapon was a bolt action rifle, his score with it was impressive since the sights were deliberately set to shoot low and left. The trend continued as the red haired pilot quickly compensated for however the weapons were setup and the second set of rounds was always dead on the bull's-eye, no matter the size of the clip.

"Okay, we pulled yours from your Dibison," Lemur said with a serious tone as he pulled the weapon from a holster on his hip, "It's been on my hip since, untouched, shoot the bull's-eye out," he added as he handed the gun over to Riton.

The Dibison pilot took his time, shooting out a piece of the bull's-eye with each shot, except the last four shots when the bull's-eye no longer existed to shoot at, so he put one shot, top, left, right, and bottom of the nine ring. He dropped the magazine out of the weapon and cleared the chamber before setting it down, only to be handed a new full clip and pointed at the next target.

"Rapid fire," Tango said with a nod towards the far end of the range, "On my go."

Riton once again nodded and loaded his pistol. This time he emptied the fifteen shot clip in just under six seconds, causing several of his new crewmate's jaws to drop when the target showed a straight line of holes that cut the nine ring and bull's-eye in half vertically.

"Used to shoot competition, that was the easy test for me," the Dibison pilot said with a chuckle as he pulled his ear covers off, his safety glasses coming off with them by accident, causing them to flop off his nose and hang off his ears alone until he fixed them.

Wolf chuckled and shook his head slightly as he turned around and slung a military sniper rifle, the one he'd bought in Guygalos a little less than a year before, over his shoulder by its strap.

"Come on, this shooting test is mine," the black haired man said with grin.

Riton reached for the rifle Wolf had on his shoulder, the quick movement didn't register but the barrel of that gun pointed at his chest and the black haired man's finger just out of the trigger guard told him he'd made a mistake.

"Yeah, don't feel bad about that," Tango said as he pushed the barrel of the massive gun toward the end of the range, "He's protective of that gun."

"Yeah, cause you and Lemur would mess with my sites just to screw with me," Wolf replied with a matter of fact tone as he pulled the strap back into place on his shoulder and let the weapon hang off it again, "You showed me how to clean it, so why not be a little protective of it."

"And to add a little armor to Wolf's argument, he did pay for the thing," Razor added with a chuckle as he stepped away from the rifle rack, "Riton, you can use one of these until you get your own."

"You guys don't steal weapons?" the red haired man asked with a confused look as he stared at the rifle rack.

"Zoid or otherwise," Vailen replied with a nod, "We buy all the weapons, ammo on the other hand is a different story in the Zoids cases."

Riton picked up a rifle that felt good in his hand and against his shoulder, checked the scope against the targets at the end of the range before putting the strap over his shoulder and pulling the barrel up against his shoulder blade. The crew led the way to yet another new place within the base. This room, a long tunnel that despite all the lighting he could only just make out that there was a wall to stop the bullets at the far end.

"Hey, where are the kids?" Wolf asked as he looked back out the door a moment.

"Probably playing in the hanger," Sarah Beth replied with a small laugh, "Riton was pretty freaked out by their presence last time."

"I love kids, who the heck are you people talking about?" Riton replied with a defensive and confused tone.

"Blaze and Tyrant, they're usually here for all of this, I'll radio around, get the mechanics eyes up," Razor replied before reaching for the radio on his hip and stepping out the door.

"Go ahead and do your setting shots, no reason to wait," Vailen said as he passed out ear covers and safety glasses for everyone.

Wolf laid his rifle in place with great care before flipping the scope covers open and laying down next to the weapon, pressing the stock to his left shoulder. Riton followed his lead and set himself up in a similar position and pressing his chosen rifle to his right shoulder. He looked into the scope, he could just barely make out the targets at the end of the range, no matter how he played with the focus the targets didn't get bigger or clearer.

"I think I want a different gun, I can't see anything with this scope," the red haired man said as he tried to fix the issue.

"I think that's the best scope we've got except the one on Wolf's gun," Tango replied with a smile plainly audible in his voice.

"Okay Riton, center low, take your setting shots at that one," Wolf's voice said from his left side, "I'll tell you what to do."

"How do I know you're not tricking me, all I'll be able to see is the dust cloud."

"Trust your spotter," the whole crew said as if they were one person.

Riton fired two shots and Wolf told him how to work the particular scope he was peering through and which way to adjust for the next shots. His next two rounds were dead center according to Wolf, but he couldn't tell for himself to know for certain and he didn't like the feeling.

"You go through all this?" Riton asked looking to his left at Wolf.

"Not all at once like you are, but yes," Wolf replied without looking away from his scope, "I had to learn to shoot first and pilot better too."

"You shoot from left or right?"

"I'll shoot left, right or upside down if I have too. If I'm not in a Zoid this is where you can find me most days, if I'm not here, I don't want to be found."

The door finally opened and closed again breaking the silence as both men looked that way to see Razor in the door.

"The kids are setting up the Zoid range for us, currently they're moving the targets out," the blonde said with a chuckle, "Apparently they figure we're doing Riton's testing all in one go."

"Then we best get this one under way," Wolf said before shifting his attention to Riton, "Sight up fella, far left middle."

Riton picked out each of the targets Wolf called and hoped for the best, since the younger man wasn't betraying any information on how he was doing and he couldn't confirm his shots for himself. He could only do six shots at a go since that was how many the rifle he'd chosen held, so when they hit the last shot he tapped Wolf on the shoulder to let him know.

"I know your count Terror, last shot high left," Wolf replied to the tap with a cold tone.

Riton shrugged minutely and pointed to the corner and started searching for the last target that had been chosen. He swept that corner of the range several times and saw nothing that resembled a target.

"I can't see it, you sure it got hung?" the red head asked without taking his eye of the scope.

"It's there," Tango said tapping him on the shoulder. Riton pulled himself up and took the spotter binoculars Tango was trying to hand him, "Five inches from the ceiling, right against the wall."

"No way I'm hitting that with this scope," Riton said when he spotted a target no bigger than a man's fist in that corner of the wall.

The loud pop from Wolf's rifle came so suddenly that Riton was able to watch the target explode before his natural reflex to snap his eyes towards the noise kicked in. The black haired man young man looked over his shoulder at Riton and nodded back down range.

"Top right, same place as the other one on the opposite wall," Wolf said with a calm tone, "Trust your spotter."

Riton checked the location of the target before laying back down next to his rifle, aiming at what he could only guess as the right spot, he squeezed the trigger and watched a bunch of dust explode from the wall and some ceiling material fall away from the impact zone.

"Alright, wait in the hall for a minute," Wolf said with the slightest of nods making the bounty hunter wonder if he'd made the shot or not.

He secured his weapon and left, leaving the entire Trazen crew in the rifle range to talk about him.

"Did he make the shot?" Tango asked as Wolf gently pushed himself off the floor.

"No, but I don't know anyone that could with that gun," the black haired young man replied, "Chose the best gun with the weakest scope, but he made more of them than I thought he would."

"Numbers?" Razor said as he crossed his arm.

"Six shots, five targets hit, score on each target eight or better, total score forty-five. And he got damn close to that last target."

"How close?" Vailen asked seriously as he collected all the protective gear.

"Don't be surprised if it's hanging on an angle when you go to check it," Wolf replied coolly, "Took the hanger on the left side off the ceiling."

Wolf and Tango cleared and secured the two rifles in the rack while the rest of the crew took Riton out to their Zoid play ground. The Dibison pilot chose to do the shooting side of the Zoid tests first so he could think about who to take on, Wolf and his rather strange König Wolf, or one of the two Zaber Fangs belonging to Razor and Vailen. His scores were impressive given the odd angles that Blaze and Tyrant had set the targets at.

The König was laying on a dune by herself while Wolf was standing between his black and red Organoid and Vailen's jade green partner. Vailen was in his Zaber Fang while Melody flew overhead in her Pteras to check the scores. Razor and the others were simply standing near the entrance well away from the Zoids.

"Okay yeah, we don't let the kids set the targets again," Vailen said with a chuckle, getting a growl of protest from both Organoids.

"Hey, if you two had set the things straight and proper we wouldn't be having this chat," Wolf replied to the two Organoids with a serious tone, "And don't argue the point, you two had plenty of time to do it right."

"Take it easy Wolf," Melody said from her Pteras overhead, "At least Riton could hit them, remember what Hawk did to you after you beat him on the rifle range?"

"Yeah, he turned the things sideways so I had to shoot the profile, that was still easier than what these two wing nuts did," the black haired man replied while looking up at the flying Zoid from his place with the Organoids.

"Wolf, your girlfriend's right, I hit the targets, lets leave it at that," Riton said with a smirk, "What's next?"

"Close combat, who do you want to face, Boss, Alpha, Beta, Omega, Vailen or me?" Wolf said still glaring at the two Organoids.

"I guess it's not much of a choice given the guns on the Zabers, and your reputation Ghost," the red haired pilot said with a thoughtful tone, "Let me face off against Tammy."

"I hope you're know what you're getting into," Melody replied as she landed the Pteras on the edge of what was about to be a combat Zone.

About ten minutes later Wolf and his König Wolf were standing between Riton's Dibison and his youngest adopted sisters Command Wolf. The orange and white Zoid with its black paws and ear tips stood out against the bright desert sand, but blended much better than the nearly completely black Dibison it stood across from. Wolf went over the short list of rules and explained that no shooting would be allowed this time since Riton's Zoid was loaded with live ammo.

The moment the König was out of range, the Dibison launched into a surprisingly fast gallop. Tammy reflexively side stepped to shoulder shove her opponent. Riton saw what was about to come and slammed the massive Zoid to a dead halt and shoulder shoved the Command Wolf before Tammy could react. The Command Wolf scrambled back to its feet and leapt off solid ground for a high jump claw attack. The attack never landed since the Dibison side stepped and shoved the wolf again.

"Geez, that's twice," Wolf muttered to himself, knowing his radio would transmit the words to Sarah Beth.

"Near text book counters, lets see what happens when she starts copying her big brother," the oldest of the blue haired sister's replied, Wolf couldn't help the chuckle it brought.

Riton squared his Dibison for another head to head charge against Tammy and her 'Fox'. The youngest of the Tillion sisters swung the massive Zoid around and charged away from the red haired pilot at a decent clip. Riton pushed his Zoid forward about five steps before stopping again, never making it to a full run.

"Seems he's seen that tactic before," Sarah Beth said with a smile on her lips.

"Lay money he's never seen the next one before," Wolf replied with a worried look in his eye.

The orange, white and black Command Wolf spun again about five hundred feet from its target and bounded back onto the main combat field at a full gallop. Tammy sat with a calm she'd never really felt before, she'd been thrown around by Razor and Wolf in close combat, but going against a Dibison didn't seem to ruffle her feathers as much. She slammed the controls hard, launching the 'Fox' into the air bringing its front paws down just in time to land on the Dibison's rear haunches, its rear legs squarely behind its massive cannons.

The shove off of the second jump sent the Dibison sprawling forward fighting to stay on its hooves. When he finally managed to get the Zoid under control, though still unbalanced, Riton felt the Zoid picked up from what felt like a head long strike at the side of the massive bull.

"Okay, that was new," the red haired pilot said with a chuckle, "I'm getting up."

"I'll wait then," Tammy's youthful voice replied through the open radio channel.

Riton looked all around him as he pulled the controls and got his Zoid back to its feet, he couldn't see the Command Wolf anywhere. He slowly brought the big Zoid about and faced off with the youngest pilot of the Trazen Crew again.

"Wolf, who taught her that trick?" Sarah Beth's voice played through the König's speakers, and she didn't sound pleased.

"Actually, I have no idea, she taught me," Wolf replied honestly as he watched the match heat up, Riton using his horns, Tammy using her paws and teeth when she could get passed the horns.

Ten minutes after the match began Riton's Dibison hit the ground when the Command Wolf seemed to reach out and trip it, and Riton admitted defeat.

"And who taught her that?" the blue haired woman asked for about the sixth time during the match.

"Okay the tripping thing I've got nothing, I don't know how she did it, much less who taught her," Wolf replied with a nervous chuckle, "Probably Melody, seems her style when she's got four feet under her."

The crew reassembled in the massive hanger area a few minutes later, Melody standing between her husband and his adopted oldest sister since he'd admitted to teaching their youngest sister some pretty reckless stuff to do in a Zoid. Luna and Tango were giving Riton a bit of a rough time about getting beat up by a couple folk half his age while Razor and Vailen discussed the tests with Lemur.

"Alright folks, looks like we've got a new hand," Razor said with a smile, "Riton, welcome to the Trazen crew."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Ghost Pack Couriers picked up a lot of business right after Riton Pacer joined up with the Trazen crew, since they were now carrying new bounty information out to the hunters on top of their normal duties. Wolf loved the money coming in for the village, and Riton enjoyed helping even more after he met some of the people. Melody and Wolf still hadn't gotten a real chance at a honeymoon, but they were still happy, even though only Wolf's sisters knew. Sarah Beth was the happiest Wolf had ever seen his oldest adopted sister since she and Riton were assigned as escort and courier. Wolf even managed to talk who taught Tammy how to trip Zoids out of his younger sister; Melody taught him how to do it.

Sadly it only took a month for things to settle out again, and a fever was spreading through the small village, to the point medicines were coming up short and the crew was caught between not having enough money to buy them and no convoys running.

"I've got a few favors I can call in, I'll go back to hunting," a red haired man said as the crew sat around the large table in the communications room at alpha.

"If you can find a bounty that big inside a month Riton, please do," Razor replied with a concerned tone, "Though I guess any help would be good."

"Razor, we've got to think about calling in real help here," Wolf suggested somberly, "I hate the idea but the military can help us out, get the supplies we need, they can't ignore a whole village."

"Which military would you call Wolf? Or have you forgotten we're in a forgotten dot on the map?" the blonde haired man snapped, "The Empire sure won't help, we've tried that before!"

"Calm down little brother, he's only saying what we're all thinking," Vailen said from his place to his brother's right, "Maybe the Helic Republic will."

"Vailen it would take months for them to get that stuff here, even longer if they're busy fighting that damned war of theirs!"

"Boss, can't agree with you this time, they've called on Ghost before, they'll listen if we send him out there, and he can hurry them along," Tango said scratching a thumb through one of the red streaks in his black hair, "Even the people of Trisdale are trying to help, but it's not near enough."

"I'm not wasting my home's time on a long shot!" Razor shouted as he slammed a hand on the table, "Wolf, get your Pack ready, you're hitting a convoy coming close to the border in the morning."

"What's it carrying Razor?" Wolf asked seriously.

"A hospital's worth of medical supplies bound for one of the bases near here," Vailen replied instead, "It'll be heavily guarded, lots of fire power."

"Give us a rough number," Sarah Beth said with a worried tone.

"Looks to be between twenty to twenty five Zoids, Command Wolves, Iron Kongs and Shield Ligers," the oldest brother replied calmly, "Can't say what the splits are, but it'll be tough."

"We'll be ready as we can be, but know this Razor, if any of my sisters don't come back from this, it's your head," Wolf said with a cold tone before he walked out of the room.

"Same goes if he doesn't come back," Sarah Beth said with a serious tone, "And it won't be any of us who guts you for that," she added with a nod at Melody as she followed her husband out of the room.

Wolf and Melody walked the halls in silence, Blaze only a few paces behind, headed towards the hanger to prepare the Zoids for the coming onslaught.

"Wolf we told him about the new Guardian Force, there's no reason to keep us hidden like this anymore," Melody said quietly, "Why is he doing things this way?"

"He's used to it that's all, this is his crew, his village, his responsibility," Wolf replied with a more understanding tone, "But I think it's time we did something against orders, we can't take twenty five Zoids with our four."

"What are you thinking?" the brown haired woman asked as they entered the hanger.

"Walk up and beg as politely as possible for help," the black haired man replied with a short quiet chuckle.

"Will you give me my wedding night?"

"Tonight?"

"I am not letting you go on a mission where the odds of you coming back aren't in your favor without getting my wedding night from my husband of over three months."

"Alright then, Blaze you prep, I'll take the woman," Wolf said with a wink as he led Melody to their room.

The next morning the Ghost Pack portion of the team left the base in quiet contemplation, they all knew what happened at Guygalos with Prozen and his Deathsaurer. They also knew that when the Guardian Force finally got its legs under it, they'd no longer be needed by the village they all cared for.

"Alright folks, let's keep this peaceable I'd like to have no shooting today," Wolf said as the three fox painted Command Wolves followed his König Wolf in a diamond formation.

"We're right with you Ghost," Luna replied with a somber tone, "Let's hope they can spare some stuff."

The convoy ran a couple minutes behind schedule but stopped without opening fire when they spotted the König standing on a dune in their path.

"Unknown contact, what is your intention?" a voice boomed through his speakers, oozing authority.

"We've come to request aid, nothing more," Wolf replied calmly, "Our home has had an outbreak of some kind, high fever and breathing problems are the main symptoms."

"This is Major Stokes, I'm a Guardian Force doctor, can you tell me anything else?" a new voice asked with genuine worry in his tone, "Who is effected?"

"Not really, we're not much more than guardians, none of us has any real medical experience, but whatever it is, it's getting everyone young and old."

"Where is your home?" Stokes asked politely.

"About fifteen miles west, the boarder runs right down the main road."

"I'll have our convoy boss break off a Gustav and join you with as much as it can carry," Stokes replied seriously before a quiet click noted the end of the transmission.

It took them the rest of the day to get back to the village, thankfully no one from the convoy argued with the doctor so they were able to get moving relatively quick. Razor was absolutely livid that Wolf hadn't brought back more, and got knocked on his ass when a wild gesture put Wolf's reflexes to work.

"Razor, I did what was needed, I brought a doctor who knows what this place is sick with, and probably brought enough meds to fix it in that Gustav," Wolf said as the older blonde stared up at him from the floor, "Now I get that you feel like this is your place to guard and take care of, but you're not a medicine man and I'm not putting my sisters or myself in the line of fire because of that when I can ask nice and get what's really needed."

"Did you have to hit me to get that across?" Razor asked as he rubbed his jaw.

"Yes, cause you were too busy making an ass of yourself to hear what I had to say before I did," the black haired man replied coolly, "Do it again and I'll knock you out instead of just down," he added before spinning on his heel and leaving.

Wolf headed straight for the hanger where Melody and Blaze were waiting with his black on red König Wolf. Seeing the three of them there, Melody sitting on bench, the König laying on her belly, head on her massive crossed paws, and Blaze curled up on the ground, his eyes staring with as much open wonder as an Organoid could get as Melody told a story, made his chest grow warm and a smile spread across his lips.

He quietly sat down next to Blaze and listened, his memory filling in what he'd missed about a fight he'd been in while in Trisdale not long after joining the crew. Melody finished the story and they all went out to Trisdale for some dinner and a night away from the rest of the Trazen crew, Blaze voluntarily staying with the König despite her not having shown any nervousness there for nearly a year.

Melody's eighteenth birthday went nearly unnoticed in all the celebrations taking place over the fever being cured. The two weeks since Wolf brought Major Stokes into town had been very busy for the military doctor, but he finally nailed down the cause and people were getting back to their lives again.

*Tyrant seems to be a nice enough Organoid but I still can't bring myself to trust Razor after sending us after that convoy,* Blaze growled as they walked through the base he and Wolf had called home for just over three years.

"Blaze, we've been here for three years, they've taught both of us a lot and you know I love Melody, besides I'm almost ready to leave, I'm going to talk to her about coming with me," Wolf responded as they reached their room.

*She kinda has to Wolf, she is married to you after all,* Blaze replied with a hissed laugh that his partner couldn't help but join in.

The black haired young man had already started packing his clothes in the König Wolf, his sniper rifle was tucked firmly in it's holder in the Zoid's main hold, his pistol in the lock box under the seat, now he was simply biding time to find a way out without setting off alarm bells.

"Melody, what are you doing in here? I thought we were meeting in your room tonight," Wolf stammered as they walked in.

"Blaze, can you wait outside please?" Melody asked as she stood. Blaze nodded and left the room closing the door behind him using his tail, "Wolf, I don't want you to interrupt, just listen," the brown haired young woman said as she pushed him into a seat. "Wolf, we had our wedding night a few weeks ago, and you know I've not felt fantastic the last week, and Dr. Stokes says I might be pregnant, what I want to know is where you stand," she finished as she sat across from him.

"Melody, I'm freaking out, I don't know what I'm feeling more, joy or fear of asking what I have to now," Wolf responded causing a confused look to appear on her face, "I want to leave this place and I want you take you and the baby with me. The Guardian Force knows about this place now, they'll handle things for the village from here on."

"When did you want to leave?" Melody asked her gaze still on the floor.

"Well I was thinking a few days from now, Razor said he's going to show me those Zoids in the southern hanger in a couple days," Wolf replied, "I know what's there, but it gives us an out."

*Wolf, we've got company,* Blaze growled through the door.

Five seconds later Razor busted through the door and he didn't look happy.

"Wolf, is it true Melody is pregnant?" the older blonde asked staring him down almost looking like he would kill the younger man.

"I just found out myself, how the hell did you find out?" Melody screamed.

"Melody, Wolf, I congratulate you two, can't say I didn't see it coming though," Razor said using a much lighter tone, "The doc called up with the verification, I was the one that picked it up."

Melody nearly killed the older blonde for scaring her the way he had, she'd genuinely thought he was out for blood. Once Razor left, the sisters came in and congratulated them, Wolf informed them of his plan to join up with the Guardian Force before sending Blaze out to stand guard.

"Wolf, we'll cover for you, and get Melody out," Sarah Beth said, "But why are you leaving?"

"Razor is losing it, he sees what he wants to," Wolf said quietly, "That's dangerous for what we do, he'll send us after even more heavily armed targets than what we would have been up against in Stokes's bunch, wipe us all out."

"What's the out?" Tammy asked seriously, "And what about Riton? And Tango and Lemur?"

"Tango and Lemur have their own outs," Luna replied, "So did Hawk, but Riton can go back to hunting, he's the easy one."

"My out is the south hanger, three years I've been here, I know what's in that hanger, I've piloted what's in that hanger, but Razor hasn't figured that out yet," Wolf said with a small smirk, "You guys get to put Riton on my tail, and follow him out under the guise of finding me."

"What about us?" Melody said laying a hand over her stomach.

"Ride out with them, it'll be more convincing that way, wait about an hour, then come chasing," the black haired man replied taking her other hand in his, "Meet me at Red River base, should take about two weeks for me to get there from here."

"What do I tell them?"

"Tell them the truth, you're my wife and are bringing the rest of the family on base. But I want you to take your time getting there, you show up two hours after me, they'll call us on it."

"How long do I need to wait?"

"Go to a place called Fire Colony, contact a young lady named Samantha White, tell her I sent you, and that I asked to hide you for a month," Wolf replied seriously, "She'll keep you fed and safe until the time comes."

"How do you know she'll be there?" Melody asked with a worried tone.

"She's dating my little brother, she'll be there," the black haired young man replied with a smile.

"We'll head for Isolina, stay in that area, if you need us, either of you, don't hesitate, call us," Sarah Beth said with a warm smile.

"Bet on it, Aunt Sarah Beth," Melody replied with a giggle.

Two days later Razor, Vailen and Wolf were all three in the southern most hanger of the base. Wolf looked awe struck at the two Zoids standing alone in the hanger.

"It's an official republican army Zoid, we took it off a convoy of three just before you became a part of our team," Razor said as a starry eyed Wolf stared at a Gojulas with super cannons on its back, "And that one over there is an Imperial Zoid taken from the same convoy," the blonde haired man added pointing to a Royal Zaber with the Empire's symbol all over it.

Blaze was ignorant of the plans Wolf and Melody had made with the Tillion sisters, but the Organoid was happy to see the look of serious disappointment flash across the black haired young man's face. Hoping reality finally set in for Wolf that the Trazens weren't the best people in the world. The Organoid had lost count of the number of fights he'd had with his partner over the years about them, a hard thing for a machine to do.

"Razor, I need to go out, I want to pay a visit to some old friends. I should be back in a week or two, is that alright?" Wolf asked as they left the hanger.

"Yeah sure, nothing is going to be in for a month, take all the time you like, I'll contact you if anything comes up before then," Razor said walking away from him.

Wolf headed to the hanger and jumped in the König, tearing out of the base as fast as he could without saying goodbye to anyone, and hoping his acting was good enough.

*Wolf, where are we going?* Blaze asked as he flew next to the Zoid.

"The closest Republican base, I'm joining up and you don't mention any of this to Daniel when we go back home," Wolf said pushing the controls a little harder.

*Wolf, what about Melody?* Blaze asked as they flew through the hanger doors.

"Blaze, I hate to say it, I don't think she was going with us, last night she said she didn't want to," Wolf responded while tightening his grip on the controls. Blaze could tell Wolf was lying so he remained silent.

"Razor, where is Wolf going?" Melody asked after spotting the Konig leaving.

"I think he isn't going to come back Melody, the look I saw on his face in the south hanger said more than he did," Razor replied in a low tone.

"He was supposed to take me with him," the brown haired young woman said turning to leave.

"Melody, I'm sorry, I know you loved him, but life doesn't always work the way we planned it," the older blonde said before leaving her to cry in the hanger.

Melody waited a few minutes to be sure Razor wasn't around then snatched the radio off her hip and started running for her room.

"Sarah Beth, he just hauled out, time to move," she said into the radio as she ran.

"We're already packed up, Riton is buttoning up, Tango and Lemur are out, but we can get them on the road," Sarah Beth replied calmly, "How long till you're good?"

"Four minutes max, my bag is packed but I couldn't lug it to the hanger until after Wolf left, I'll meet you there," Melody replied breathlessly as she closed the door to her room.

The hour and a half mark that Wolf had given his wife and sisters to get things ready passed quick, Riton was already powering up his Dibison when a massive explosion shook the inside of the hanger. Chaos reigned for a few minutes while the Tillion sisters got their Command Wolves out of the hanger and Melody ran hard through the halls while being pelted with small debris. The Zoids outside, two molgas, a Command Wolf and a Guysack, went down fast, the pilots refused to give reason for their attack, Sarah Beth's killing stroke was stayed by Riton's fast reflexes.

"Is everyone okay?" Vailen's voice played through the radios on everyone's hips.

"Tillion sisters and Riton all safe and sound," Luna replied as she let out a long breath.

"Razor here, safe and sound," the boss's voice replied with an audible shake and no other voices came through.

"Melody, are you alright? Can you hear us?" Tammy said into her sister's radio, panic edging her voice.

"Please gods no," Sarah Beth whispered as she bolted back towards the hanger on foot, the rest of the crew close on her heels.

The whole crew searched the base, Tyrant finally found her just outside the weapons locker. The brown haired young woman had been caught by a falling wall support, her legs were pinned and the large rock with blood stains on it said she'd never known what hit her. No one wanted to stop Tammy, Luna and Sarah Beth from going after the crew that attacked the base, but even the three blue haired sisters couldn't find the strength to take revenge. Tango and Lemur executed the four pilots in the village jail, they didn't care about trials, they just wanted vengeance, no one tried to stop them, even the villagers stood by and simply watched, a few of them holding Major Stokes back from stopping the two Redler pilots.

Two days later Melody was buried in the village cemetery, alpha was abandoned and delta cleared out, and the Trazen Crew was no more.

Story Continued in The Death Tiger


End file.
